


Blood & Magic

by cecylia



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Black Romance, Bottom Castiel, Creature Dean, Demon Dean, Demon Sam Winchester, Dom Dean, Emotionally Repressed, Gay Sex, Horror, Human Castiel, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Light Bondage, M/M, Profound Bond, References to Castiel/Other(s), Sub Castiel, Top Dean, Weird Sex, Witchcraft, and I'll explain, it's difficult to explain tbh, you'll know when you get there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:16:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5318372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecylia/pseuds/cecylia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After his father passes way, Castiel moves to the lake house he inherited, located in a town he hasn't been in since he was a teen. While the small town is quiet and reserved, it contains a lot of bizarre things he'd forgotten about, including the mansion across the lake from his home and the strange rumors spread of the man that lives in it. Circumstances bring him to take a job there, and through time, he knows more about the man, what he is, and what he's capable of doing to him if disobeyed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Art was done by me! Follow my tumblr for more art!  
> Anyways, this story is gonna be a little complicated and I will try to explain it as much as I can. Please give it a chance, I gave this story a lot of time to process andplan out. If there's any mistakes please tell me. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

> _**Because you're young, you're wild, you're free,** _
> 
> _**You're dancin' circles around me,** _
> 
> _**You're fuckin' crazy.** _
> 
> _**Oh, oh, you're crazy for me.** _
> 
> _**\--Lana Del Rey's Cruel World** _

 

**Prologue**

Life is…interesting. 

For almost a decade, it kept four siblings separated, each of them ending all types of contact with the other, making them start their own lives, putting them all through their ups and downs, and it took their father’s funeral to bring them together. 

Still, neither directed a word towards each other, and instead kept their distance and set boundaries if one were to approach. They chose to stay in their section, with their families and preferred relatives, rather than find comfort in one another.

No one in the Novak family understood what happened to the brothers and sister that made them abruptly separate. The once loving siblings that couldn’t keep themselves from each other, now each stood on different corners of the room. 

Michael was with his wife and three children, a pregnant Anna with her husband, Gabriel with his girlfriend, and the youngest, Castiel, with Stuart, his father’s old Golden Retriever. They each had their way, and were better off. 

Except for Castiel. Unlike the rest of his siblings, he didn’t have a family of his own or a partner to depend on. He was a recovering alcoholic and drug user that just got out of a rough breakup from his girlfriend of three years. He didn’t take the easy route like his siblings did, and because of it, he ended on the streets at twenty-four before his father took him in at twenty-five. His life was a roller coaster ride for a big part, but he managed to recover, and not many could say that. 

That same afternoon, he and his siblings met up for the first time in what felt like forever at their father’s home. Up close, they could see how much they'd changed, both physically and internally. But no one brought it up. The only reason they were there was to see what their father left in his will for them. 

They sat uncomfortable around the dining table, all taking the same chair they used to sit on when they lived together. Michael was on the right to his father’s chair, Gabriel on the left, Anna besides Michael, and Castiel on the other end of the table, the farthest away from the family. 

A man came in a few minutes later carrying a silver briefcase with him. He was short and bearded, but quite youthful and handsome, and he seemed like he’d done this a few times before he came to their home to read Emmanuel Novak’s will.

Everyone was nervous and they had their reasons for it because, in one way or another, each had disgraced the Novak name.

Anna and Michael, to a bitter surprise, only got a letter from their father and socks. 

Gabriel, while he wasn’t the best child of the four, ended up with a lot than the oldest two by receiving ten grand and the family home. 

Castiel was the luckiest. He was given the rest of his father’s money and his lake house in Washington. As his will stated, _“It was all because you were there for me when no one else was. Instead of abandoning me, you stood by my side, not only as a son, but as a friend, too, and never asked for anything besides support to help you through your hardships. For that, Castiel, I will always be thankful.”_

He didn’t know how to feel at the moment, three familiar pairs of eyes on him did not improve his situation, he could only sit there. His father left him a lot in comparison to his siblings and he couldn’t tell who the oldest two, Michael and Anna, despised the most, him or his father. 


	2. One

**1**

The lake house was turned into a mess. Time had not been easy on the poor thing and neither had trespassers. The front door’s lock had been jammed due to the door being kicked open, probably by teenagers since the damage wasn’t so severe, and some the windows had cracks in them. 

Inside wasn’t any better. Excluding the sofa, coffee table, and dining table, everything was still covered by white sheets but the floors and ceiling fans were extremely dusty. There was some trash settled aside, next to the French doors and behind the love seat, full of pizza boxes, soda and beer bottles, and candy wrappers, again, probably from teenagers judging by how they left all their evidence there. 

 It was too late in the day to be dealing with this and the plane and bus ride made him tired. For now, all he wanted to do was to get some proper sleep so that he could get started with the cleaning early tomorrow. 

With very step he took towards the stairs, he could see how long it’d been since he was last there, which was thirteen years ago, after his mother passed away. But he understood why his father gave it to him. Whenever they visited, Castiel didn’t look as stressed as when they were back in the city. All his worries were left in Pontiac so that he could greet North Bend with a different attitude. 

The house had three rooms, and the first one he checked was the one he and Gabriel used to sleep in and everything was intact, surprisingly, with their beds still made but dirty, and their furniture covered. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t say the same about the master bedroom because as soon as he opened the door, the stink of spoiled food hit him. The bed was unmade and had mysterious stains, there was bags on food on top of the furniture, and used condoms and their packages spread on the floor. 

He didn’t know how many people had come here to take advantage of their absence, and, for now, he didn’t care. All of this was as hard to think about as it was tiring. If Michael or Anna had gotten the lake house, they would’ve been all over the police’s ass, Gabriel would’ve had his fun with the situation for a while before realizing what happened, but Castiel didn’t have much to say or do, he knew it was bound to happen, especially when they’d been gone for so long. 

Castiel closed the door, choosing to spend the night on his old room instead of his parents’ like he would’ve wanted to. 

He wasted ten minutes trying to dust off the sheets and pillows, but even then, the blue covers maintained an annoying greyish tone in them, so he walked to the closet and searched it for a bit. It surprised him that what they left behind remained untouched.

He pulled out two thick blankets folded inside plastic bags, which were hidden behind a black box, and used one to cover the bed while the other would be for him and grabbed one of the spare pillows his mother kept in there. 

What he always liked about this room was that the balcony had a wonderful view to the lake and was a vintage point for the moonlight to shine the brightest and give a new life to their room full of blandness. But it was only this room that had that perk, their parent’s faced the front of the house, and the view of Michael’s and Anna’s was blocked by trees. When Gabriel moved to the other room, Cas appreciated that the most. 

There was also a clear view of the house on the other side of the lake. The home was bigger, showing the wealth of the inhabitants by a lot in comparison to Castiel’s side, but it didn’t have lighting as bright as theirs, or at least he couldn’t see it, as it was always hidden behind the fog on top of the lake. 

From all the memories he had of the town, the ones of this mansion, for some odd reason, were the strongest. Asides from being quite terrifying, it brought him some sense of recognition, close to déjà vu but…not _really_ …

He recalled hearing the people from town, his parents included, talking about that place, its haunting background, and how teenagers dared themselves to go in there every Halloween and coming out with horrible memories. But it wasn’t abandoned. Someone lived there, everyone loved to talk about the family that resided there but never about whom they were or what happened to them. Whenever he tried to ask, it would be dismissed. It was as if the name of that family carried a curse. 

Castiel shook his head. If it did, it would explain a lot, but he didn’t want to think about because if he did, one thing would lead to another. All he wanted was to lie down and sleep, it had been a very long day, and tomorrow was going to be worse with all the cleaning and restocking, so God knew he was in desperate need of a good night’s rest. 

The mattress was a little uncomfortable, a bit hard in comparison to his old one, so he moved around for a while, trying to find a good spot, the loud squeaking of the old bed frame making it worse, until he finally did. He was almost pressed against the wall, where the air hit the most. 

Despite everything, he was glad he inherited this house, although he was still uncertain about the money, because he was able to say that his father knew him and cared for what he wanted. He had a lot of childhood memories from when they were all a big, happy family. What they were now had become indescribable in a bad way.

Castiel closed his eyes, the tiredness started to settle within him. Hopefully the people and things he left behind would be the same when he saw them again. If he was lucky, they didn’t change as much as he did; his thirteen years apart from the town had taken their toll on him physically and mentally. 

The boy that left, had not grown into the man the townspeople expected. 

-.-.-.-.-.-

Castiel was carrying groceries to his car when he was first recognized. The woman, Pamela Barnes—a troublemaking girl when he met her, a preschool teacher now— tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a big smile as his memory failed to remember her in the beginning. 

“I knew I recognized those crazy blue eyes from somewhere!” She threw herself at him, almost making him drop his bag full of canned food, and wrapped her arms around him. “Castiel Novak, welcome back!”

He noticed the man standing a few feet from her. Castiel, for sure, didn’t know him, but quickly assumed that he was with Pamela. He was tall and handsome, with blue eyes as powerful as Cas’, certainly someone she’d go for. “Yeah,” He chuckled, “Nice seeing you, Pam.”

“Look at you! You really developed!” Pamela touched his arm, “Going away had its effect on you.” Deep inside, he hoped she meant that in a good way and not because he was reflecting stress.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Castiel asked, gesturing towards the man that eyed them, especially him.

“Husband, actually.” She turned to him and signaled him to come closer, grabbing his hand when he reached them. “Cas, this is Benny Laffite. Benny, this is my childhood best friend, Castiel Novak.”

Benny extended his hand for Castiel to take, “Nice to meet you.” His smile was forced as they shook hands, and his tough grip sent chills through him. It was as if he wanted to settle who was the stronger of the two. “It’s always nice to meet some of Pamela’s friends.”

“Oh, lighten up, honey.” She mocked, “I’m sorry about my husband, he’s not very good at socializing with anyone outside his circle of friends.” 

“Understandable.” Castiel was the same, “I really liked seeing you again Pamela, and you still look as good as when I left.” Probably better. Puberty had worked its magic on Pamela in an amazing way that he would’ve thought about more if her husband weren’t standing a few feet away from them. 

“And you’re just as charming.” She grinned and stared at him with the expectation of Cas returning the gesture but he understood that a little too late. “We should hang out some time, maybe at the Roadhouse. You remember that place, right?”

“Of course.” How could he forget? The Roadhouse was where he met a lot of the friends he cut contact with and the only place where he didn’t feel inferior. In there, he had his second family. 

“Good, because it’d be surprising if you didn’t. You and your dad loved that place. Which reminds me, where is that old man?” 

Castiel looked down to the grocery bag he was still holding, the grief of losing his father slowly making its way through him again, “He, um, passed away. Heart attack.”

The smile on Pamela’s face died off, “Oh my god, I am so sorry.” 

“It’s fine.” He lied, because, if anything, he knew he was everything but. “Coming back here has been a little therapeutic for me, even if everything we left behind might be gone now.” The last thing he wanted was for his words to reflect his true emotions, but ever since his father’s passing, the filter had come off. 

“If you need anything, Cas, I’m always willing to help. We could use our time together to catch up.” She caressed her arm once again, this time it helped him with how he felt, “Just call me, okay? Do you have a phone?”

He nodded and took his phone out from his jacket. They exchanged numbers quickly, Castiel setting up two contacts for Benny and Pamela and then waved their goodbyes, Pam making Cas promise that they’d meet up soon.

The drive back to his home felt shortened. The twenty minutes that had taken him to get to the grocery store now felt like ten. It was probably because being recognized and seeing an old face mature, had improved his mood. 

Although it died quickly when he got to the house and the thoughts of cleaning erased the pleasant feeling completely. He’d never been a fan of housework, his old room was a great example of that, but now it was mandatory. 

Back with his father, he only had to clean his room, the maid took care of the rest, but now that he had his own home, he felt a responsibility of always keeping it spotless in case of any future visits weigh in. Even if he knew that there wasn’t anyone, except maybe one of his friends but that’s the only person he could think of, that’d want to see him. 

So, for the rest of the day he spent it doing chores, picking up the mess the intruders left behind, fixing the broken door, changing the bed sheets with new ones and washing the old ones, making appointments for repairmen to come the next day to fix some of the electronics, and decorating his new room. In the end, the house somewhat looked as good as when they left it. Hopefully, he’d be able to keep it tidy for a while. 

As he lied down on his couch to finally rest, closing his eyes as he relaxed, he hoped that tomorrow would be a better day and that his life would change from what it’d become. Maybe it could be as easy as his parents and siblings made it seem. 

-.-.-.-.-.-

_There had been a change that night, he noted. The house that had been still for years, excluding the unwanted visits by teenagers and drunks, had gotten its life back that day. He first noticed it when the lights of one room of the second floor had been turned on in the morning and the again later that night to close the curtains._

_Faith ignited in his stomach that maybe **he’d** come back, that maybe it was **him** and they could start over, but the thought sounded sillier as it processed. At this point, he should’ve known better than to expect that much. It could’ve easily been anyone, not **him** specifically. _

_“Are you alright?” She asked, sitting beside him, her curious eyes following his gaze. Once she understood, she gasped, “Could it be?”_

_He felt like he couldn’t do anything but chuckle, “I don’t know.” He pushed himself to admit, he wanted to believe otherwise, “But I sure hope so.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed what I have so far. Thank you if you read through it and I'll try to update as soon as I can.


	3. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will have a little bit of Castiel/original male character, but it's not gonna be anything serious so if it makes you uncomfortable, you can skip it, I only added it so that you can sort of get an idea of how Castiel is. If you read through it, I apologize for the shitty smut :/ It was three in the morning when I wrote it.

**2**

Nobody said that starting fresh was going to be easy. Castiel realized that when he found himself driving half an hour to Seattle and stopped at a night club called The Garrison. It was shitty and hidden between two other clubs but he wasn’t in the mood to be waiting in line to spend a good night and that one had the shortest. 

Fortunately, he didn’t struggle as much as the couple in front of him, who clearly didn’t look anywhere near twenty-one, but was still offended when the security guard didn’t ask for his ID. 

Inside, the place looked much nicer, with a the hallway walls covered in magazine cut-outs and pictures, with good lighting guiding you to the party, although there were groups of people standing there chatting and drinking that made it difficult for Castiel to pass by. 

In comparison to how they were dressed, girls in tight dresses and torturous high heels and men in ugly dressing shirts and ties, Castiel wore a hoodie over a green shirt, torn jeans, and worn out converse. Seeing them like that, made him regret his choice of wardrobe because he felt like he didn’t belong.

The dancefloor was crowded, Castiel could barely make his way to the bar, if he didn’t have a girl or guy press themselves against him. It was uncomfortable and gross but by the time he reached his destination on the other side of the room, he didn’t mind anymore. 

There were many options of alcohol that Castiel recognized just by the color of the liquid but that he couldn’t have. He’d been a year sober and the death of his father, the weight that it hung on him, wasn’t enough to allow the atrocious habit to drag him back in. It was tempting, but he wasn’t gonna fall into the trap. 

Castiel called the bartender, a handsome, golden-haired guy with grey eyes, over, “What can I get you?” He smiled at him, scanning Castiel as if he were prey.

“A soda, please. Preferably, Sprite.” He leaned in so that his voice could be heard properly over the music.

The bartender chuckled, “You’re in a night club, sweetheart, don’t you think you need something stronger than a sprite? Unless you’re the designated driver of your group.”

He shook his head, “No, I just have terrible experiences with alcohol.”

“Ah,” He nodded understandably and proceeded to serve Castiel his soda. “So, are you from here? You don’t look it.” The man reached for a glass next to Castiel that he hadn’t noticed, and threw it in the sink behind him. 

“No, I am from Pontiac.” He took a large gulp from his drink, he didn’t realize how hot the place was until he felt the refreshment hit him, “Why?”

He shrugged, “Just wonderin’, we don’t usually get natural beauties like you in places like these. You’re like a lamb in a den of lions.”

Castiel dismissed the fact that the bartender called him a beauty to respond, “It’s not my first time in a club. I’ve been to worse places than this. This is actually a bit softer to what I usually do, but I have to distract myself.”

“That’s the point of these shit holes, sugar. Everyone here is looking for a distraction.” And the guy wasn’t wrong. Cas could tell, from the way people dragged others to dark corners of the place to do inappropriate things. Nobody came here for the music; they were all here for the thrill of experimentation. It was the reason _he_ even came to these places in the first place. 

“What are you looking for, love?”

Castiel smirked, standing from the stool, “Same as everyone else, a good time.”

The bartender reached for Castiel’s hand, his fingers caressing his knuckles, “Well, I could give it to you. If you allow me to, that is.”

Castiel grabbed the bartender’s dark blue tie and pulled him close enough that he could smell the mint in his breath and see the beauty mark underneath his left eye and another on the right corner of his mouth, “I’m open to your offer if you’re willing to give it to me hard. How’s that?”

He never thought about how charming the bartender’s smile was until it grew wider. “My shift ends in twenty minutes.”

“Just hope I don’t find someone else in those twenty minutes.” He whispered against his lips, provoking the other man to kiss him, but pulling away when he tried. Castiel winked at him, making his way to the packed dancefloor as another song started. 

It didn’t take long before a short, busty woman approached him and he made eye contact the bartender when she placed her hands on his chest. Just a minute later, a man, taller and more muscular than Cas joined them and placed his hands on his moving hips. He’d never been a fan of this type of situations, but he did enjoy mocking the bartender. And sure, he wasn’t the sort of guy he’d typically go for, but damn, was he handsome…and he couldn’t say no to that…

The music was nice, even if he wasn’t fond of the singer, but the beat was danceable. The mood killer, though, were those flashing neon lights that he always hated, and they hit a lot in the spot he was dancing. 

He could feel the two pairs of hands drawing him closer to them, often debating on who really deserved him. Castiel didn’t want either, he wanted the cute bartender, but he had to keep himself entertained while he finished, impatiently, he wanted the man now. 

And he waited, he endured having these two leeches all over him for twenty minutes until a strong hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards another body, leaving the unknown man and woman confused, his eyes finding a pair of lips he’d become desperate for. “Shift’s over.” He said in a low voice, his grey eyes meeting Castiel’s blue ones. “I’m all yours if you still want me.”

“You really thought I’d go with one of them?” Castiel could go with anyone he wanted, but he was picky. 

His mouth curled into a smile, “I knew you’d have standards. What’s your name?”

“Jimmy.” His go-to name that worked with anyone he gave it to, but he could tell that the bartender didn’t buy it. 

“Right. I’m Henry.” His didn’t seem to be a lie like Castiel’s, it was fitting.

“So, where are you taking me?” Castiel’s hands found Henry’s tie and pulled him closer again, it obviously had an effect on him because the grip he had around his waist tightened. “I’m not a bathroom fuck kind of guy.”

“Anywhere you want, baby.”

And, just as Henry stated, they went somewhere Castiel wanted. It took longer to get there than if they’d chosen the bathroom, but a nearby motel was a lot more comfortable and probably better smelling than the disgusting stalls. 

He wasn’t one to sleep around with guys whenever he felt like it, it was a bit of a repressed desire and there had been a few times where he gave in to it and slept with men, but he was certain that the recent loss of his father took off that leash and for that night, whoever took him to bed didn’t matter. He wanted to feel something. As time passed, with the minutes growing longer and the hours seeming like eternities, his emotions numbed and sex, whether it was with a man or woman, would be of great help. At least he hoped so. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

Castiel had never been the type to submit himself to anyone, much less for sex, but something about the way Henry touched him, made him feel like there was always a first time. Although he asked him to be rough, Henry chose to be gentle and tempted his body in various ways, kissing, holding, preparing, and moving him in forms where he’d be comfortable, eventually turning Castiel on his stomach and raising his hips so that he could start them off with punishing thrusts. 

The good thing about Henry is that he knew how to keep the tension heavy, he didn’t ruin it with unnecessary dirty talk, instead he allowed for their low moans and heavy breathing to be ones expressing what they felt.  

And he begged, pleading to be fucked harder even if that wasn’t his intention, but the desperation got the best of him and administered his words. He was glad that Henry complied quickly and increased the pace and harshness of his thrusts, getting Castiel to moan in ways he hadn’t in a long, long time until they reached their climax, separately, but certainly enjoyable.

Henry smiled, satisfied with what they did, and wiped off the sweat from his forehead before grinning, “That was great.”

Castiel breathed in, sitting up, “Yeah.” He’d been with two guys in the past, and none could come close to how Henry made him feel. But it wasn’t anything special, that guy was just a heat of the moment, he couldn’t see himself with him beyond that point.

Henry sat next to Castiel, running his hand through his messy, blonde hair to fix it. “You want to do this again or was it a one-time deal?”

“One-time deal.” Castiel leaned against the wooden headboard, his breathing and heartbeat still trying to go back to their regular pace. “I don’t do two-night stands, they tend to be uncomfortable.”

He looked disappointed, “Oh. So, I guess this is where we part ways, huh?”

“You could stay longer if you want, I don’t mind.” Castiel reached for his boxers, which had been thrown to the nightstand. It was then when he noticed, from the tattoos Henry had on his very impressive body, a particular one that stood out by his ribs. “What does that mean?” It was Japanese writing; he recognized it but couldn’t define from where. 

“It’s a family thing.” 

“But what does it mean?” 

Henry thought about it for a moment but Castiel didn’t know why. It was his tattoo; he chose it, why would he need to come up with something for it? 

“Cat.” He said it as if it were no big deal.

“You got a tattoo that reads Cat in Japanese?” 

He nodded, “It’s a big deal to us. Cats are a thing in my family. Everyone has one like this, I’m just following tradition.”

“So you guys have a thing for cats that’s big enough for you to tattoo it?” He still couldn’t understand why anyone would want to tattoo ‘Cat’ in Japanese. He understood if it were a cat’s name, but cats in general? But he wasn’t in any place to judge, he was sure that if his family had stayed longer together, his father would’ve made them tattoo something similar 

“It’s more than that and I would love to tell you about it tomorrow over breakfast.” Smooth, but it still wasn’t convincing enough. 

“Nice try, but no.”

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

Castiel left as soon as Henry fell asleep. He couldn’t stay there any longer, not because he didn’t want to, he liked him enough to make him doubt, but he was afraid of becoming attached if he did.

For some odd reason, the streets were empty and dark, except for one light pole that shined brightly above Castiel’s car. He looked around, there was no way he could’ve been the only one here, when he arrived, the street was full of people trying to get into the nearest bar and now, they were…gone?

It didn’t get any better as he made his way to his car. There was this sensation that ghost over him, as if he were being watched and he quickly looked back to the hotel to see if it wasn’t Henry, and it wasn’t. The light to their room was off. 

He checked the time; he couldn’t believe it was barely past midnight. He assumed that the time he’d spent with Henry had been longer, but apparently not. Before he got into his car, the corner of his eye caught something moving not that far away from him. There was nothing behind him, it was just him in that lonely street. 

But just seconds later, he felt something brush against his cheek, a sound similar to a sigh passing through his ear. In the beginning it seemed like it was just the wind blowing, but when that thing touched him, he knew he was very wrong. It made him freeze on the spot, dropping his keys, because it was that moment when he accepted his loneliness and then this happened. There was someone, or something walking with him, but it wasn’t quite there. 

It was as if someone were spying on him, like when he was a teenager and he would go alone to the lake, he would always think there was someone beside him, creeping up on his personal space to have its presence known, except this one felt stronger, darker, that could carry him up in the air only to drop him moments later. 

“ _You_ …” He could hear it whisper; it was a little further away from him this time, but still close, “ _You’ve come back to me_ …”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I know I took long to update but this chapter had a lot of rewrites so I hope you liked it! If there's any mistakes, I'm sorry, and please tell me. Again, thank you for reading and please leave a comment!


	4. Three

**3**

Castiel should’ve known better than to walk into the Roadhouse for lunch. It was when the diner was the fullest and half the town liked to spend their afternoons in. But where else could he eat quality burgers for a cheap price? The closest place beside the diner was thirty minutes away. 

It was raining that day, not by a lot but still enough for it to be bothersome to Castiel. If there was something he didn’t miss from North Bend, it was its weather, which was mostly fog, cold, and rain. Sometimes there was a sunny day but that was rare and hardly enjoyable. 

The first one to notice him taking a seat was a brunette woman whom he had distant memories of. Then the word spread from her, and in less than five minutes, he had several pairs of eyes all over him. It was the last thing he would’ve wanted, but he knew it was unavoidable. He understood what his presence meant and the history behind it. 

Trying to ignore it, he reached for his shoulder bag for the newspaper. For the last two days he had been looking for a job and still had no luck. That day’s paper had at least twelve possibilities circled and another ten scratched off. He didn’t remember job searching being so difficult. Then again, it had been a while since he had one. His last job was a waiter and that was in college.

He’d lost count of how many places he’d already called and how many told them that they were no longer occupying and slowly, he was becoming frustrated. He didn’t need a job, of course, it was completely optional since his father’s inheritance was enough to cover him for the rest of his life, but that was the problem, how easy things were for him now. He no longer had to worry about paying the light bill late or saving up to buy new appliances. Anything he wanted he could get now, and that same belief sent him down to his old addictions. Castiel saw the world without struggle and that lead him in a very horrifying direction, he was afraid of falling back to it if he wasn’t able to find something to keep him entertained. 

“Cas?” A woman’s voice spoke in front of him, “Is that really you?”

He looked up to find Ellen, his father’s old friend and his second mother, staring at him, “Hey.” It was all he was capable of saying. What else could he say?

“After all these years, you finally decide to show up again, huh?” The loving tone was quickly replaced and hidden by her typical rough one, “You didn’t even bother with making a damn call?”

“No,” Wrong thing to say, “But I did want to. It’s just things got worse ever since mom passed away and…um, well, I was in a dark place.”

She smiled, “That’s what I’m here for, kid, to take you out of there!”

“Sorry, Ellen. I wish circumstances had been different.”

“Ah,” She patted him, “Don’t worry about it, Cas. By the way, I heard about you dad, Pamela told me, and I’m sorry about that.”

He shrugged, “I try not to think about it.” Not that he didn’t want to, of course, it was the memories that came with it every time he did that concerned him. Every time he thought about his father’s death, his anxiety would increase on a dramatic level and his feeling became a mess. 

“If you need anyone to talk to, you know where to find me, okay?”

“Okay.” He smiled up to her, it didn’t feel forced; he couldn’t do that to Ellen.

“You wanna order anything?” She asked, “I hope you still like our famous bacon cheeseburgers.”

The burgers that ruined the way he looked at food. Any other burger he’d ever eaten had felt bland in comparison to the ones Ellen made. “I’ll have that then with a coke and a side of fries, thank you.” Ellen nodded and was about to go before Castiel spoke again, “By the way, are you occupying at the moment? I’ve tried everywhere but it seems no one is hiring. I would love a job with you. I have experience as a waiter.”

Ellen sighed and shook her head, “There aren’t any open positions right now. We recently gave away the last one to a girl but if anything opens up, I’ll call you. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine.”

“Well, then I’ll go place your order.” She caressed his shoulder like a mother, a gesture he hadn’t experienced since his mother. It made him nostalgic, making him question why he never returned to this town after her funeral. This was his only happy place, his heaven on earth, and he abandoned it. 

But he didn’t want to guilt himself here; it was the wrong place and time. If he wanted to do that, that’s what his new home was for, but not the place that watched him grow every summer along with his siblings. 

Castiel returned his attention to the newspaper in front of him and continues his desperate search for something that’d keep him busy for as long as he stayed in North Bend. His eyes scanned through the circled areas and crossed out some of them. 

Nobody told him that finding a job would be easy and yet, his father and siblings always made it seem so simple. He couldn’t pinpoint their trick. He had degree, a History and Mathematics major, just like them, he was on their same level of experience—

Somebody sat in front of him, sliding into the red cushioned booth. It was a beautiful, brown haired woman with green eyes. Her smile was wide and pleasing, but her sudden presence didn’t match up to it. 

“Can I help you?” He put down his pen, trying to figure out if she knew her from somewhere. But he didn’t. 

“You’re looking for a job, right?” Her English accent was distracting in a good way, it suit her. 

“Yes, why?”

“My name’s Bela Talbot.”

“Castiel Novak.”

She gasped, confusing Castiel for a moment, but she continued, “I’m currently looking for a cleaning person,” Not the best job but Cas wasn’t going to dismiss it, “You’ll only work four days a week for seven hundred.” 

Surprised, he raised his eyebrows. Now, he was intrigued. Four days for seven hundred bucks was too good of an offer to let go of, “I’m interested…”

“I’ll be interviewing you, along with a few others, this upcoming Monday. If you are as interested as you say, show up at two.” She grabbed her red purse, which was really big, and pulled out a white card with a number and address printed on it.

“Do you just carry these?” He joked, looking at the designed frame and cursive writing.

“For certain occasions, yes.”

The address was familiar, he knew he’d seen it somewhere before but the memory was extremely faint. “So at two, you said?”

“Two. If you’re the first one there, it’s more likely you’ll get the job.” She smiled again, “You don’t have to dress casually but it’s preferred if you do.” Bela stood up, “I hope to see you there, Castiel. You seem like a great guy and I’m sure my boss will be delighted to have you around.” She stretched her arm and waited for Castiel to take it.

“Alright, I’ll be there. Thanks for the offer, Bela.” He shook her hand, sealing their agreement. She gave him one last smile before walking away, grabbing the attention of several men as she passed by. 

As soon as she was out of sight, Ellen came by with his order, moving the newspaper around to set down his plate and drink. “Was that Bela Talbot?”

“Do you know her?” He asked, immediately reaching for his glass of soda.

“She’s lived here for a couple of years, hardly see her around, much less here in the Roadhouse. It’s weird. What did she want?”

“She offered me a job.” He eyed the burger, his mouth watering as the familiar scent of the buttered bread and sizzling meat hit his nose. “As a cleaning person.”

There was a sense of uncertainty suddenly surrounding Ellen, “I don’t know Castiel. She goes to the town center to post about job openings at least three times a month. I wouldn’t trust her on this.”

Knowing that, he hesitated, thinking that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea and maybe, that was why the amount of money was so high. “Do you know why?”

“Could be because she works in that freaky Winchester home.”

“The mansion?” It was the first time he heard it being called the ‘Winchester Home’. It didn’t sound as creepy as it should have, considering the stories he’d been told about it. “I didn’t think anyone lived there.”

“A man does but he doesn’t come out of there, only Bela does. There used to be more people but who knows what happened to them.” She paused, “But that’s all I know. Bobby knows more, he used to be friends with someone there.”

“Where is he anyways?” He looked around, hoping that Bobby Singer would be sitting in one of the tables. “Are you two still a thing?”

Ellen raised a hand, showing off gold ring, “We got married seven years ago. I sent your father an invitation but he said he didn’t have anyone to go with, you were in college and your siblings were doing their thing.” 

“Congratulations, Ellen. I’m sorry I couldn’t come, I wish I had. I would’ve given anything to see you in a wedding dress.” He smiled, but he knew that it wasn’t enough to make up for his absence. 

“Please think about it before taking this job. The people that have gone in there haven’t been the same. Well, except Ash,” She pointed to the kitchen window where a man with a mullet sang Carrie Underwood, “But besides him, the people that have gone into the Winchester home haven’t said nice things about it. They’re terrifying. If you do take it, be careful.” 

Castiel nodded; doubt started to weigh on him, “I will, thank you.”

“Enjoy your meal, kid.”

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

_Bela’s routine hardly changed, but that night was one of the few that did. He waited for her wide awake, still sitting on that throne-like chair, facing the window so that he could get a clear view of the house across the lake. His long, black wings were stretched around him as he carefully brushed the feathers with a silver comb._

_“Did you do it?” He asked, not once making eye contact with her as he spoke, too concentrated in making his feathers soft again._

_“Of course I did. Castiel will be here Monday at two. Would you like to interview him, or should I do it?” She grabbed a stool and placed it next to him. She took the brush from his hand and helped him with caring for his wings. It didn’t matter how many times she taught him how to do it, he still did a poor job._

_“He’ll come to me. If I force my presence on him, who knows what I may do or how he will react.” He sighed, his eyes moving up to the lake house, one of the lights turned on, letting him know that Castiel was there._

_“He won’t recognize you, what reaction could he possibly have towards you?”_

_“I don’t know how far the curse’s effects go and I’m afraid to find out.” He turned to Bela, his hypnotizing green eyes finally meeting hers, “It’s best if you interview him. I don’t think I’m ready to face him again.”_

_“But you already have, when he was coming out of that hotel with the Nekomata—” She stopped herself when the figures on the wall started moving and the whispers around her started getting louder, the ground slightly shaking. He was angry, “Sorry.”_

_“To think that that thing had its hands all over him, touching him in ways I was never capable of.” He breathed in, calming down his surroundings, “Don’t ever bring it up again. Also, it wasn’t me the one to approach him. It was Them.”_

_“And who controls Them?”_

_He chuckled, “Fine, but it still doesn’t count, alright?”_

_Bela raised her hands in defeat, “Okay, okay. But hope he’s early for the interview or else I’ll have to force myself to interview the other three applicants.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry if this took long to update but I was trying to fix my schedule so I could work around it. Thank you to those that waited patiently. Please read a comment, it's really nice to receive feedback, and again thank you for reading. 
> 
> Also, please check out my other stories, Where We Fall and my newest one, Addiction.


	5. Four

**4**

Castiel couldn’t stop worrying about his appearance. It was his first job since college so he wanted to look as professional as possible, even if his problematic hair was a permanent issue. He shaved early that morning but when he looked into the mirror again, his chin and cheeks started to itch again. 

It didn’t matter if there was two hours until his interview, it felt as if he only had minutes and he hated it. He couldn’t believe that he was going into a house, with quite a reputation standing prideful behind it, for a job. 

He had faint memories of the place from when he was younger, but every time he looked at it, he felt like there was something missing within him, a big piece actually, but when he thought about it more, he was never able to move beyond a certain point. 

His parents would tell him stories about the people living there, once a small family, and now, apparently, just one man and his caretaker, Bela. Nobody ever knew much about them, just that they moved to North Bend due to problems with the previous town. Of course, their arrival was quick to rise tensions. He once overheard his father talking about how the older man was hostile when he offered to help him carry his groceries. The rest of the family was a mystery. No one ever spoke about them except to call them a freak show. 

Castiel never saw them that way. He remembered always feeling curiosity towards the outcast family, always wondering what was hidden under all those dark covers that town put around them ever since their arrival. He knew, he was certain, that they couldn’t be so bad. 

He stepped out of his bathroom and walked to the covered glass doors of his living room. It surprised him to see that it was raining again for the second time that day. If there was something he didn’t miss about North Bend was its troubling, bipolar weather. It made it more difficult for him to get a good glimpse of the mansion across the lake. Hopefully, that would be his new workplace. 

That afternoon would be the first time he would ever be on the other side of the lake. It might’ve not been that big of a deal to someone else, but to him it was. He only knew that side to be prohibited, that it belonged to clans and the family of the mansion. The only people he knew to go there were curious teenagers that only ended detained by the police for trespassing private property. If only that had applied with his lake house.

Castiel turned around to look at his new home. The feeling it had when he was younger was gone and he knew it was impossible to rebuild it in the same way his parents had, but he was willing to give it a shot. 

It didn’t look the same as when they’d left it, that was obvious, but he managed to clean it up enough and add his own touch to it. Yes, it did still need a few repairs and some new furniture, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. He now had the money for it and he’d be making some more cash if he got this job. 

He sat down on his couch, it was ugly and plastic covered because his mothered used to think it was good idea, and closed his eyes. His interview was in two hours. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

 He overslept. 

 When Castiel woke up it was three and he panicked. He mentally scolded himself for being irresponsible and he knew that at this rate, the job already belonged to someone else. Easily, he could’ve stayed behind because what was the point of trying if he was an hour late? But he still had to show up and give it a shot. 

He grabbed his car keys, jacket, and umbrella, because he could hear that the rain only worsened, and ran outside into the cold nasty weather of Washington. It was extremely dark and the rain made it difficult for him to find his car, which made it worse for him because his clothes were getting wet and his umbrella refused to open. That was fan-friggin-tastic.

When he found his car, he unlocked it, and was quick to get in, soaking the seats and making him uncomfortable. This is what happened because he stupidly decided to take a nap. Dumb, dumb, dumb. 

He turned on his car, the air conditioner hitting him like a bucket of ice water. Why, from all the other days of the week, had his luck decided to fuck him over that day specifically?

He drove as fast as he could to the mansion, the cops in the town were barely present on rainy days, and he prayed that his rush wouldn’t get him into an accident.

When he reached the place, he was surprised to see how haunting the house looked up close, more than usual actually. The rain poured harder around it, the lightning cracked louder, and the atmosphere was far more suffocating. But…it also felt welcoming, in an odd way, but he felt like there was a magnet dragging him to the house, as if there was nothing wrong with the large home, or as if all the stories said about it were a joke. 

Castiel slowly opened the door of his car, his eyes never separating from the structure of the mansion, the vines that covered the gray-brick walls, or the two stone angels that stood on each side of the front door, the eyes blindfolded. He had never seen anything so intriguing yet terrifying that attracted him so much, like a kid to a candy store. 

To his astonishment, the door opened and Bela stepped out with a red haired woman. When her eyes spotted Castiel, the smile she gave the woman faded to look at a soaking Castiel that hardly tried anymore to cover himself from the continuing rain.

“Castiel?” Her accented voice asked and she briefly went into the house only to return with a set of towels. “What the hell were you thinking?” She pulled him into the shaded are and covered him with a green towel. 

“M-m-my umbrella…d-d-doesn’t w-work.” His shaking voice replied, sounding a bit dozy, as if he were under a spell. Cas knew that he was capable of answering better but, for some weird reason, he couldn’t. Not when Bela walked him inside into the warmth. 

From all the lights that the house, only three were turned on. Two from the living room and one from the hallways that led there. He could feel a force lurking in through the darkness, watching his every step, similar to the one of the hotel from a few days back. Maybe it was his paranoia, the effects of finally being in the house he’d heard scary things of. 

The living room they walked into was small, too small to be the only one in the mansion, with red sofas with waxed, wooden constructions surrounding a small coffee table covered in manila folders. The windows were covered by ruby colored curtains that completely blocked the light into going in or out of the room and in the other end of it, there was a large fireplace that provided all a comforting heat. 

“You’re late.” Bela commented, helping Castiel with taking a seat on a chair.

“I took a nap and thought I’d wake up in time.” Cas didn’t mean for that to come out of his mouth but it had and the result was a stern look from Bela. “I’m sorry.”

“At least you showed. About half of the people that applied didn’t.” She took a seat in front of him, “They’re either lazy or let the stories of this town get to them. Either way I don’t mind, less people to interview.” She offered him another towel and Castiel took it. 

“Are you the owner of the place?” He wrapped the warm material around himself and closed his eyes to the blissful sensation it sent through him. 

“No, but the owner of the place doesn’t like doing this. He doesn’t like anything, actually, especially people.”

“So why does he want someone else here?”

“Because I refuse to clean this house. Everywhere he walks, it’s like a tornado follows. He’s a very messy man without trying.” 

“What’s his name?” Castiel asked, the coldness he was feeling was slowly fading away but he still felt it in him. From the way Bela looked at him wide eyed, he knew it wasn’t a question she was expecting but she answered anyways. 

“Dean…Dean Winchester.” She grabbed a nearby teapot that Castiel hadn’t noticed when he sat down, “Tea?”

“Yes, please.” He could seriously use something hot. 

Bela poured some of the liquid into a small cup and handed it to the still trembling Castiel. “So, why do you think you deserve this job?”

Castiel almost moaned when he tasted the tea, not because it was good, it tasted more like water than honey—at least that was the flavor he made out—but because it was in the perfect temperature that took his chills away. “Well,” He placed the teacup on his lap, “I’m very good at cleaning and because I need something to keep myself entertained.” Another thing he didn’t mean to say. 

“Excuse me?”

“My father recently passed away and left me with a heavy inheritance, so I’d be lying if I said that I wanted the job for the money.” He paused, a bit shocked by Bela’s interest, “When I was in college, I developed a bit of alcoholism and drug abuse because I didn’t have anyone supervising me and I felt like I could control it on my own.” He chuckled, the memories returning to him at that moment, “Boy, was I wrong. I feel that if I don’t do anything and stick to the thought that I’m set for the rest of my life with the money I now have, I’ll fall back into those dark ways and honestly, I don’t want that. I don’t think anyone does. This job could keep me occupied from that. It’ll give me a purpose, and, with everything I’ve been through since I left this town, it feels like the only thing I want right now.” Castiel felt satisfied with his answer but he wasn’t sure about Bela. 

Her expression was unreadable, she looked like she was thinking, “Your answer is definitely unique. I like it. It gives you an advantage over the other three, you didn’t bullshit your answer.”

“You’ll consider me?”

“Totally. Despite being an hour late and coming in all wet, you have the best response and I’ve placed you as the highest contender. I just have to check with Dean to see if he’ll like you. He’s become very picky throughout the years, it’s incredibly frustrating.”

“I appreciate the consideration. It’s flattering as it is now.”

“I’m glad you see it that way.” She leaned in closer to him to whisper, “Honestly, you’re the only one I’ve liked so far. You’re different in a good way. I’ll put in a good word about you.” She smiled, her gesture as stunning as her looks.

“Thank you so much.” He grinned, “It’s extremely nice of you to do that.” Although the job wasn’t a big deal and the atmosphere of the place wasn’t the best, he really wanted this position. “I’ll leave you my contact information. I’d give you my resume, but it messed up with the rain.” He smiled nervously and shook Bela’s hand, he was confident that he had this in his pocket. It was the first time he’d felt that way and it was good. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

  _Dean could feel his presence in the house, his deep voice that hardly changed since the last time he held him in his arms, echoed through the hallways and walls. He instructed Bela to interview him and from the way he could faintly hear his laughter, she was doing a good job._

_He could only imagine what Castiel looked like, the Shadows told him he was beautiful, but he wanted to see it for his own. Dean was certain the curse wouldn’t forbid him of that much, he only hoped that the Kitsune wouldn’t get in the way and prevent the day from coming._

_Castiel was close from him and yet so far, he knew that. But he was also aware that it was up to him to see him, nothing interrupted him now, just that Castiel didn’t know him anymore, but if he wanted to, he could walk up to him and introduce himself again. Sitting in bed, with his wings wrapped around him like blanket, his feathers shedding and forming a circle around him, would do nothing to help his situation._

_But it was his choice._

_He wanted to stay there, hidden in the dusk of his room, with the lightning booming into his bedroom, because he didn’t know what he was capable of when he had Castiel in front of him. Would he be able to control himself? Would he hurt him? Only the day of their meeting, which seemed further away with every passing second, could know…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super late I know but just recently my laptop broke and I had to replace it but the replacement took time, money, and effort. But I'm back and I'll be updating daily again :)


	6. Five

**5**

Bela called that same night saying how Mr. Winchester had chosen him out of all the people that showed up. She congratulated him and told him that he started Wednesday. “Don’t be late or wet.” She told him before hanging up.  

Castiel couldn’t keep the smile off his face, he was happy he had a job now. Those kind of news would help him sleep better at night. 

He fixed his bed, undid the covers, and threw all the decorative pillows to the carpeted floor. Tonight was going to be peaceful because he had a reason to wake up. 

He’d become curious about how things would be in that place not that he’d be spending a lot more time in the mansion that was in everyone’s mouths and the man that hid there. He imagined him to be like Bela, a likeable person with a tremendous personality, but he could be wrong and he didn’t want to be. 

When he lived with his father, he used to watch a lot of dramas where the leading ladies would get a job like his and their boss turned out to be a mysterious dick. If life wanted to play him in that way, he was better off not walking into the mansion and live it for himself. 

Cas imagined what this Dean would look like. Probably an old man with gray hair and eyes that could pierce a skull if he gave it attention for more than five seconds. He couldn’t imagine Bela working with a man like that though, perhaps he was exaggerating but he couldn’t help himself from doing so due to all the stories he’d heard about them throughout his life. 

He was about to prepare himself for bed in his new room, which took him a week to properly clean and decorate, when he heard a sound of glass crashing on the floor below. He paused for a moment because he had watched several home invasion themed movies to know where this was going, but still walked to his closet to grab his metal bat. 

At first it was just one sound and it stayed that way for a while before another loud sound of metal clashing followed. He wasn’t scared as he should’ve been, maybe it was because he was about to work on a house with a haunted reputation, but he did feel his anxiety rising as he walked down the hallway to the stairs. 

With every step he took down, he could hear the sound of feet walking against on wooden floor, dragging its…claws…? He was surprised to not see a man dressed in black, like he imagined, but a fox standing in front of his uncovered sliding doors. It wasn’t the typical one either, it was large and incredibly white that the aura it illuminated seemed like fire growing around it, especially when the moonlight hit it. Castiel didn’t know that Washington had foxes, much less big ones like the one that caught him staring at it. 

Its eyes were an orange-red that glowed in the dark of his house, burning him with an intensity he’d never felt before, not even from a loved one. He wanted to call nine-one-one so that they could send animal control but he couldn’t move, he was afraid that if he lost the beautiful fox in front of him, he wouldn’t know how to deal with himself. 

The fox took a step towards him, small and uncertain, expressing the mutual fear they felt for each other before it increased its pace. It had long legs moving gracefully towards him. Castiel hoped that the fox wouldn’t hurt him but a voice within him said he wouldn’t. 

He sat on the stairs, waiting for it to approach him, a fear increasing within him that maybe this thing might bite him and he was setting himself up for the trap, but he knew it wouldn’t. Those eyes reflected the same desire to be close to him like Castiel’s.

For that moment, when it stopped just inches in front of him as their eyes met, Castiel felt safe. Like nothing in this world could hurt him because this breathtaking fox would protect him from all danger. He reached for its fur, confident that it wouldn’t bite him if he did. Its white hair was soft and a little sticky from something he couldn’t make out. It had a little dirt that he didn’t notice at first—how could he? The fox was so hypnotizing—and leaves that did little in destroying the fascinating image it held on to proudly. 

The fox, a male, he noticed, moved his head to the side so that his nose could make contact with his palm to smell him. Castiel did the same, not because he creepily had to, but because it had a scent around him that radiated so strongly it was unavoidable. He tried to lie to himself when he recognized his aroma of roses and apples on him but didn’t know from where. 

It almost pained him when it started to back away because he was sure he knew that marvelous combination from somewhere. They stared at each other, both with wonder, before the fox went out the way he came in. 

Suddenly, the spell he felt around the fox was gone and realization hit him like a brick. He couldn’t believe that a fox had been at his house and he came near it. That thing could’ve killed him and his murder would’ve been on the news the following morning. How could he be so naïve? He knew what happened to people who dumbly did the things he did and yet he still did them. 

Castiel was quick to move to the glass doors and lock them. With a bit of luck, that would keep more animals away, if it didn’t, then he’ll have to get stronger doors—

His eyes caught a peculiar marking on the glass, its sight alone spooked him and made him doubt if he was alone in his house at that moment. There, in front of him, was a large handprint.

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

Pamela caught Castiel while he was having breakfast the next morning. She said goodbye to her husband Benny, apparently a police officer, before she sat with him and ordered. For a small woman, she had a very big stomach. Not even Castiel ate that much, it was fascinating. 

“So, how is North Bend treating you?” She asked. 

He shrugged, “It’s been okay. The house renovation has been a pain in my ass but I’m almost done so that’s a highlight.” Cas was still a little shaken about his discovery the other night so his conversation with Pamela wasn’t all there. 

“Hmm, you don’t sound so sure. You’ve definitively changed since the last time we met, it’s very fun to pinpoint.” Pamela gave him a charming smile, “I heard that you went for a job interview in the Winchester mansion.”

“How’d you find out about that?” He didn’t remember North Bend being so nosy.

“Rumors here spread like crazy. A friend told me. You remember Ruby, right?” She continued when he nodded, “Well, she was there when Bela approached you and she might’ve overheard a few things.” 

 _Damn_ , “Was it necessary for her to tell everyone?”

“Don’t worry about it. It could be worse, you could be the laughing joke of this town and have a horrible secret spreading about you. You should be thankful.” She took a small sip from her orange juice and cleaned up her area when she saw a waitress approaching her table with a large plate of food. 

“How could you eat all of that?” A wondering Castiel asked as he analyzed the dish of five pancakes, four slices of bacon, two eggs, two sausages, and potatoes. That plate was meant for truck drivers.

“I work it out. Benny could tell you stories about my appetite and how little it takes me to lose it. It’s a miracle really. My husband eats half of what I do and it takes him weeks to lose five pounds.” Pamela carefully cut all of her food up so that she could consume it like an animal. “By the way, you remember Gadreel?”

How could he forget? That guy had been his first male kiss. “Yeah, why?”

Her eyes moved behind him and Castiel followed them. The man that sat down on a table next to the door with a group of firefighters was a God. He was tall and built, the shirt he wore really showing off his muscular arms, almost ripping through the thin sleeves. His hair was still golden blonde and his features were still so attractively proportioned. “Is that really him?”

“The one and only.”

“He’s hot.” Castiel admitted, although he didn’t know why he would ever deny it.

“Not as much as Benny but yeah, he’s really hot.”

He bit his lip, Gadreel had been really good looking when he was younger, but now he surpassed that. “Is he a firefighter too?”

Pamela nodded, “He wouldn’t sit with them if he weren’t.”

“You think he remembers me?” Castiel sure as hell hoped he did. That was not a piece of ass he’d want to let go of.

“I’m pretty sure he does, he was crazy about you when you were younger. Who knows how he might feel about you now. Hopefully positively.”

“Why do you say that?” He looked back at her, Pamela was shoving a forkful of breakfast into her mouth, and it was amazing how much of it she’d taken in since she got the plate.

“Well, he was heartbroken when you left. I don’t think he knew that it was over your mother but he was sad when you never came back, basically forcing him to move on to other people.”

“Did he ever settle down?”

“Not that I know of. The girls around here are crazy for him, they’d do anything for his attention but I don’t think he ever had eyes for anyone besides you.” He felt flustered when she said that. Cas never thought about that when he was away. His mother’s death completely blinded him to the people he’d left in North Bend. 

“Oh.”

“Quick.” She tapped his hand and surprised Castiel with her sudden change of tone, “Fix your hair, he’s coming this way.”

“For me?”

“Probably not, but it’ll be hard to miss you.” She stayed quiet when they saw a figure coming close to the bar to talk to Ellen. Gadreel was much bigger up close than away, it was remarkable. It made Castiel want to hide inside his hoodie but it wasn’t big enough for him to do so. 

He and Gadreel had a lot of memories together, they dated when Cas was fourteen and he was sixteen, experiencing a wild and romantic life together before tragedy separated them. Their families were close, it was surprising that he didn’t see them at his mother’s funeral, if Gadreel had been there, maybe their fling would’ve continued. 

“Cas?” A deep voice called for him. Trying to hide did nothing. “Oh my God is that really you?” He looked up so that his blue eyes could meet a pair of grey ones. Even though Gadreel had gone through a shit load of changes, the kindness in his eyes remained. 

“Hey.” He said with a clumsy smile that revealed the nervousness he felt. “Hey.” He repeated shakenly and he could hear Pamela’s giggle in front of him.

“You’re really back!” 

Unfortunately but willingly, “Yeah, yeah I am. Feels good. It’s nice to see everyone, although I didn’t think you’d still be here.”

“I didn’t think you would ever come back. Glad you did, you’re looking well. Handsome, even.”

“Wasn’t I always?” He laughed. Slowly but surely, his confidence returned to him. “No, but the one who really changed here was you. You’re not the same Gadreel that I remember. You’re much more than that now.” And he wanted to feel more of him too. No, wait, he didn’t even know if Gadreel was still into him. 

“That’s kind of you to say. You know, maybe we should hang out some time. Your place or mine doesn’t matter, really, but I would love to catch up with you. Clearly, times have changed for both of us and it could serve us to compare.” He smiled at him, swooning both Castiel and Pam. As much as she claimed how much hotter her husband was, Gadreel had her as whipped as Cas. 

“I would love that.” He really would. Not just because the man was unbelievably striking, but talking to him again would help him move past the barriers his father’s death had set up for him. “What day would you like to do it?”

“Are you available tomorrow?”

“In the afternoon, no. At night, maybe.”

“Then tomorrow night it is. I’ll bring us some takeout.” He smiled and turned back to the table where he was sitting with his firemen friends were teasing him, probably for the gorgeous Pamela and not the boring-looking Castiel. “Anyways, I’ve got to go. My friends need me. It was good seeing you again. I hope we can pick up this way tomorrow.”

“I hope so too.” He just hoped that working for the first time in that house wouldn’t ruin him and the curiosity he felt towards the mysteries that hid inside got the best of him and distracted from what waited for him ahead. 


	7. Six

**6**

Cas showed up ten minutes early to the Winchester mansion. Bela complimented him on his punctuality and gave him instructions, “Every time you come in, you’ll show up at two and leave at seven. Before you leave, you’ll head to the kitchen and make tea. Don’t make it too early or it’ll cool, don’t make it too late or it’s gonna burn. Mr. Winchester likes his tea warm.” 

“Do I take it to his room?”

He was disappointed when Bela said no, Castiel was looking forward to meeting the man, “You _cannot_ go to the second floor, Mr. Winchester doesn’t like anybody but me there. When he gives me the green light, I’ll inform you and you’ll start taking his tea to his room but, until then, you’ll only work down here.”

“What’s on the second floor?”

“Things I cannot tell you about. So, the kitchen will be available for you to make lunch but make sure you clean it after. I don’t like messy kitchens. Clean up what you must, it really doesn’t matter, I don’t expect you to be done today.” She clapped her hands together, “Anything on the first floor is restriction free, there’s enough things here to keep you entertained, so like I said, do not go to the second floor? Understood?”

Cas nodded, “Understood.”

“Good.” Bela flashed him a proud smile, “Anyways, I’m late to my lunch date so, I’ll see you back by seven.”

“You’re going on a date?”

“Yes, he’s a great guy. Handsome, too. I hope it works out.” She wished him luck and waved him goodbye, leaving Castiel standing alone in the dark house. It was larger than anything he was used to and much crampier than he expected from things he hadn’t noticed before. 

He was in a room that only had a small circular table in the center and was surrounded by large stacks of old, dusty books and papers that a slight brush against them dirtied his hand completely. 

It was raining again, for the fourth time that week, and the walls were like speakers for the thunder and lightning. Even thought it was barely two, the outside was dark and seemed like it was past six. Castiel only wished, then he’d go home to his meetup with Gadreel. 

God damn, that man was hit by puberty like a rock. When they were younger, he had a lean, athletic physique expected for a sixteen year old boy, but now, however old he was, he was flaming in his own hotness. He’d grown muscle on his arms, and thickened his body in a sweet, sexy way that made Castiel want to run his hand all over.

He shook his head. Wrong time to think about it. Plus, his phone vibrated in his pocket to distract him. 

His friend Charlie was calling him, which was a miracle because he thought she had forgotten him and it’d be a pity to throw away so many years of friendship down the drain. “Hey, nerd.” She said teasingly when he answered.

“Hey, Char, what’s up?”

“ _Just checking up on you. Dorothy and I have been busy with the café so it’s been hard to contact you_.” He could hear doing something else and Dorothy’s singing voice in the distance. “ _How’s it been, have the townspeople been nice to you_?”

“They’ve been okay, I’m actually working right now,”

“ _Is it a bad time for you? I could call later. Dorothy and I have given ourselves a free day today so any time is good_.” 

“No, it’s fine. I don’t think anyone would mind.” He went to the living room to pick up a few cleaning essentials that Bela set up for him to start with his duties. 

“ _That’s good. What is it that you do again_?”

“I’m a cleaning person.” He cleaned the top of the books to reveal nameless covers and the papers only had weird symbol that he’d never seen before. Cas reached one of them, particularly one that had a leather cover, and opened it. The pages were mostly blank except for a few ones in the middle that had a few faint sketches of people. 

“ _Does it pay well? Not that you need it, you’re loaded now_.”

“It pays very well, I don’t think I deserve it.” He began to move the books around and arranging them on the empty shelves stuck on the wall. “The place though is quite the scenery. When I was younger, a lot of people used to say that this house was haunted. I understand why.” He laughed when Charlie gasped, “It’s beautiful and like an unmade puzzle, but it’s like fresh out of a horror movie.”

“ _Careful, you don’t want to be the first five minutes of a supernatural show_.”

“I hope not, I’d be such a boring victim.”

“ _You would not. You still remain the most interesting person I know_.” She giggled, “ _So, is your boss as creepy as your workplace_?” 

“I’ve actually never met him.” He admitted. “But his caretaker is cool.” 

“ _A caretaker? Man, he must be at least a century old_.”

“I try not to cross out the option.” He moved a few of the handwritten papers and accidentally dropped some. When he reached to pick them up, he noticed a small entrance by the corner, hidden by larger stacks of huge books. Castiel followed it, listening to Charlie ramble on about her favorite show and favorite couple from there.

He could hardly pay attention to her because he was busy following a trail of black feathers that filled up the small space of the hallway. That was a lot of feathers that made him curious of where they came from.

At the end of it, was a wide, spacious room with a throne-like chair in the middle. The window was covered by thick, black and emerald curtains that didn’t allow any type of light into the area. There was a small switch on the wall that once turned on, brought to life the three lamps and colors that the rest of the house lacked and illuminated a floor full of more feathers

Weird… 

“ _I just don’t get it, Cas, okay? Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter somehow managed to get back to each other because Will had the stupid idea of sailing across the fucking ocean to settle an argument he had with Hannibal. It makes me so angry how in love and in denial they are with each other. I hate them. I hate this show, but I love it too_ —”

“Charlie?”

“ _Yeah_?”

“I found a picture of my boss.”

“ _Oh… **Oh**_.”

It was a large painting, or picture—Cas couldn’t tell the difference, the features were so well done and so blurry at the same time—framed on the wall of a four-member family. The most outstanding one was a bearded, dark haired man with tremendously emphasized hazel eyes. He wasn’t old or young, he was middle aged, somewhere between his early to his late forties, handsome in every way a man his age could be granted. The woman, a statuesque, green eyed blonde with an arm around her husband’s was the only one smiling while holding a small, sleeping baby. The last one, a boy in the front, gave Cas some sort of recognition when his eyes met the ones in the painting. He was golden haired with wide, green orbs and freckled cheeks and nose. 

“ _Take a picture of him_.”

He shook his head, snapping out of the sudden disorientation the picture made him feel and did as Charlie asked him.

“ _God damn_.”

“What is it?” The familiarity that clung on him when he saw that boy for the first time scratched him inside, begging him to explore, to know what had become of him. 

“ _He’s kind of cute_.”

Cas wasn’t going to deny that, the man in the picture was very handsome. He was probably a little too old now, but in that picture he looked divine. “He’s probably around sixty right now.”

“ _I know_.”

“You have a girlfriend.”

“ _I’m allowed to look at the menu but not order. Your boss is cute though_.”

“In that picture, sure.” He kneeled down to pick up one of the feathers. It was odd seeing so many in one place, much less so big they fit Castiel’s entire hand and half of his wrist. At first, he wondered if they had bird problems or something similar but the size of them were unbelievable to piece together. “Do you mind if I call you later?” He told his friend over the phone.

“ _Nah, don’t worry about it_.”

“Okay, I’ll call you again when I get out, okay?”

“ _Alright. Don’t forget I love you, Cassie_.”

Castiel wanted to scold her for using that horrendous nickname but instead he laughed, “Don’t call me Cassie, and I love you too.” He hung up and put away his phone inside his pocket. Now, he could peacefully investigate the wonders that this house hid.

He could understand why so many people wondered about it, there were so many things that had a question mark on top. Cas would’ve probably opened the Pandora Box to the many secrets of that room if his internalized voice hadn’t stopped him. 

Maybe it wasn’t the right time to do this type of research, he knew he didn’t have boundaries as long as he stayed on the first floor but even going through the available history of a haunted family felt tremendously wrong.

His job was to clean, not to snoop around in other people’s business, as strange as that felt as he thought it. He was tempted and he had everything he needed at the reach of his hand, but this belonged to someone else and he couldn’t run his hands through it. 

That was when it hit him, the feeling of being watched as he contemplated the idea of being nosy. It wasn’t single feeling when it came from one area of the room, it felt grouped, as if it were several people, or beings, studying his moves but he couldn’t see it and everywhere he looked made him uncomfortable and small.

The room became chilly and that’s when he knew that he couldn’t be there anymore. The environment was quickly suffocating trying to kill him, this is what happened when his tried to become involved in something that didn’t need him. 

Cas walked out of the room and into the one where he was originally cleaning. Somehow, the dust he’d eliminated returned in bigger portions but Cas wasn’t worried about that. His concern lied on what happened inside the room. 

Whatever happened could not have been real, perhaps it was guilt but it was still creepy. Oh God, it was just something he would never be able to shake off. 

It didn’t help that he heard footsteps closing in on him. His instincts were fast and he turned around, ready t attack whoever wanted to sneak up on him under such a horrible time of stress. 

What he wasn’t ready for was his blue eyes to meet a pair of green ones and a handsome face to hold them. This man was breathtaking, a perfect combinations of everything Castiel had ever dreamed of in a potential mate.

“Hey, you okay?” His sensual voice asked. Cas immediately caught the motion of his desirable lips. 

“Oh, um, shit, I’m sorry.” He covered his mouth when he cussed, “I’m sorry again.”

“It’s fine.” He laughed and damn, if it wasn’t the best thing Castiel had seen in North Bend ever since he got there and he’d recently gotten his taste of Gadreel, another beautiful being that shook him to his core. But even he couldn’t compare to the beauty in front of him. “I’m Dean Winchester, by the way, your boss.”

Castiel almost choked on his saliva, “D-Dean?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed Castiel’s hand to shake it, “You must be Castiel.”

He nodded, “Yes. I’m Cas Novak.”

“Nice to meet you.” The man, Dean, was very handsome, Cas would never deny that but something about him gave him a weird feeling inside, not a good or bad one, just one that situated in the middle, poking at him. The shadows in the room surrounded him, all of them pointing at his presence like a supernatural being looking for someone to trick into his trap. 

Cas was tempted to fall for it, the man was quite the view to convince him into it, but he wasn’t going to, the presence of the town was bad enough as it was and this Dean was a seductive heaviness adding on to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who waited for the update. I know I take really long but I want to deliver good material and even if I don't, I still give it the time to try :)) I hope you guys enjoyed and tell me what you think! I was actually gonna introduce Dean much later on but the timeline of the story would mess up so I gave him a sooner spotlight.


	8. Seven

**7**

Gadreel was on time, probably a little earlier than he should’ve but Castiel didn’t care. He had a bright smile on his face that could light up the mood of any place, and even moved something inside him. He didn’t remember him being so charming. 

“I brought us some burgers if you don’t mind.”

“No, actually, I’m glad you did.” The only thing he’d eaten that day was a hot pocket. Meeting his boss, Dean Winchester made him lose his appetite for the rest of the day. “They smell delicious.” Especially the fries. “Please, make yourself comfortable. I’ll get some drinks. Do you like iced tea?”

He nodded, “Yes, of course.” Cas could hear his chuckle, “Man, you really fixed up this place. It was a dump while you were away. I gotta give it you, it looks really nice; not many would’ve pulled it off.”

“My dad was obsessed with a perfect house so he taught me a few things. Also, thank you.” He pulled out two tall glasses from the cabinet, a pair he’d never used before since he settled for plastic cups instead, and poured some of the fresh tea he’d made just minutes before Gadreel showed up. 

“Is it just you?”

“Yeah.” It was an odd feeling since he was used to having someone with him, but he quickly adjusted. He walked back to the living room, and the sight alone of the man waiting for him still took his breath away. Gadreel wasn’t a Dean Winchester but holy shit, he was very close up there. 

God, he couldn’t believe he was actually working for a man as handsome as that. He only thought that men like those were from fairytales but apparently they were very real and so damn desirable. Gadreel was too, very much actually, but he wasn’t Dean. 

Gadreel was very attractive, in a godly way, making the few men Cas slept with seem like sheep and he was the wolf. He had big arms and wore tight shirts that made them bigger, and a wide, curvy waist that Cas wanted to grab and wrap his legs around, but everything he had, was so little in comparison to his boss. Dean was beautiful, the definition of the word and probably more than that. He didn’t know what he wanted with him, what he wanted to have done by him. He never felt so strongly about anyone before. 

“You okay, Cas?” Gadreel asked as he arranged the food on top of the coffee table. 

“Um, yeah, sorry. I was just distracted.” He gave him his glass and sat next him on the loveseat. It was obvious that their relationship was strain from the way their body language kept them distant and it made things awkward.  

“Ah” He paused, “Has the town been nice to you?”

Cas chuckled, “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Because, you left and never came back. You made friends, and didn’t contact them. It was almost as if you never happened, so you coming back out of the blue is a little shocking, and it proves that you did exist after all.”

“North Bend has been nice, a lot nicer than I expected, actually.” Except for Ellen, “But it’s obvious that there’s a tension hanging since my return and nobody knows how to remove it. Not even I do.”

“I didn’t expect you to.”

“What about you? How did you feel about my return? And how come you never left? It’s clear that you don’t fit here anymore, so why stay?”

“For my family mostly, and because tradition doesn’t let me leave unless I’m with someone. Your return gave me the green light that maybe, I’ll leave soon. But who knows.” 

Castiel hesitated but still asked, “Are you implying anything?” There was a faint teasing in his words that he wanted to hold back but couldn’t. His curiosity peaked and he wanted to feed it.

“Would you like me to?” Gadreel smiled at him, hinting at a possibility, but he quickly got distracted, “Did you add a lock to your door?” He pointed at the glass doors that showed the wonders of the mysterious night, and the haunting view of his new workplace.

“I added two.”

“How come?”

“A fox was in my home a few nights ago, and someone let it in.”

“Someone?”

He nodded, “There was handprint on the glass, and the first locked was messed up. I called someone this morning to fix it and add another one, and tomorrow someone else will install a security system because I’m afraid it’ll happen again.”

“Paranoia, huh?”

“Dude, you should’ve seen the size of the fox. It was huge, about half my size. I don’t know where that freak gets those animals or what I’ve done to him, but I don’t want him to surprise me one night with a six foot lion or something.”

“Maybe he’s interested?”

Castiel’s head titled and squinted, “Interested in what? In my money? I have nothing to offer to them except for that.” Slowly, things stated to connect, “Do you know who this person is? Are they your friend?”

Gadreel shook his head, “No, I’m just throwing probabilities out there. You shouldn’t listen to me.”

“If you know them, I don’t mind, I just much rather find out through you than someone else. If this loser is your friend, no offense, you should tell me now.”

“I don’t know them, Cas. I was just commenting. Is that okay?”

Cas ran his hand through his hair in irritation, “I’m sorry. It’s the paranoia, like you said, I don’t know what to do and this is freaking me out. I can’t believe I ignored all the weirdness of this town when I was younger.”

“You didn’t ignore it.” Gadreel commented.

“No?”

“Nope, because you dated me.”

Castiel smiled, it felt weird yet familiar. “You weren’t weird. You were handsome and a smooth-talker. You could’ve told me to walk off a building and I would’ve done it. Your eyes drove me crazy, they still might but I need some convincing. You were my first…” He wanted to say love, but his subconscious voiced that it didn’t fit with him, none of what he said did. Gadreel was the owner of most of his fondest memories, but there was a big piece missing, and that one had the clue of who, or what, the word love belonged to. 

“Your first what?”

“My first kiss.” He wasn’t lying, Gadreel was actually his first male kiss. His first kiss was this girl named Amelia when he was twelve, and she had gum in her mouth that she passed on to his. He had been traumatized by it that held on to kissing anyone for a while. 

“Is that all you remember me by?”

“Obviously there’s more, but I don’t think you’re here to talk about the past.”

“That’s exactly why we’re here, you wanted to catch up.”

“You know what I mean, Gad, I just don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about what we had. You and I were special, I won’t lie. But we grew up, apart, and who knows what would’ve been if we’d grown up together. But that what happens, happens.”

Gadreel stood up and towards Cas, “We could start over, take this as a sign to recreate what was destroyed when you left.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” He took a few steps back, bumping into a wall and digging his own grave. As dreamy as Gadreel might’ve been, there was still a thick wall between them that he didn’t want to bring down. “Don’t forget that I wasn’t the only one that destroyed it. You knew I needed comfort after my mother died and you never asked for me.”

“Is there any way I can make it up?” Gadreel was too close, Castiel had never felt so cornered it was wrong in a good way and vice versa, but something about him was driving him t to insanity. The cologne he wore, the wonderful smell of it, felt like it pushed him to test the boundaries. 

“There is, but we’re probably not thinking about the same thing.” He knew he was crazy by the way he glanced at Gadreel’s lips. His intentions radiated off him. “Look, you and I have a colorful past but this doesn’t mean anything. We can’t…” 

“Why not?”

“Because it’s been so long…” And yet it surprised him when it was him the one who leaned in to initiate a kiss. 

He was aware and ashamed of his actions, ashamed of doing what he always wanted and reached for Gadreel’s waist to bring him closer and deepen their kiss. 

They didn’t know, nor care enough to where they were heading, they just wanted to walk random directions until they felt something soft underneath, eventually ending in Castiel’s couch again where clothes started to come off and desperation began to settle in Castiel’s body, pulling on Gadreel’s hair, scratching his sides and biting on his bottom lip. 

He remembered doing this with him before when they were teens, they were both inexpert virgins but Gadreel touched and kissed him with such a force and experience that it terrified him then but turned him on now.

Both of them had knowledge of what they did, they proved it from the way they took off their clothes without making weird positions or awkward pauses between their kisses. 

“God, Cas, I’ve wanted to do this for such a long time.” Gadreel chuckled, breathless from their heated session, which only increased in passion and desperation with every passing second when they continued.

“Yeah?” Castiel ran his hands through his wide chest, doing what he wanted to do for so long, it felt satisfying. 

“You’re everything I ever wanted.” He whispered against his ear, his hot breath sending chills down his spine. It was a mood changer, because it didn’t feel…genuine.

Castiel didn’t want to think about, all he wanted was get fucked, god knew how much he needed a good pounding, but that was when things slowly connected. The desperation he felt moments ago, faded and was replaced with a feeling he couldn’t decipher, he just knew that this wasn’t right. Gadreel was not who he wanted to be with. 

“Wait, Gad—Gad, get off me.” He pushed the man away but his weight was too much, a lot more than he’d expected. “Please, stop.”

“What’s the matter, you okay?” His gray eyes only reflected confusion as he backed away. “I thought you wanted this as much as I did.”

“Yes.” He ran a hand through his dark hair, feeling the small amount of sweat trickling through it. “Of course I do, but—I just—something changed and I don’t want this anymore, I’m sorry.”

He smiled understandingly and placed a hand behind his neck, “It’s okay. This was quick and we shouldn’t have rushed it further.”

“You should go.”

“Are you angry with me?” His hand caressed Castiel’s cheek, “Say you’re not; I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking out of here if you were.”

“No, I’m not.” He shook his head, “Like I said, things just rushed, don’t worry about it.” He gave him an assuring and awkward smile, “But something is not alright. It’s not you…” Castiel didn’t even know what it was, but it was off, and asphyxiating him, and he wanted to shake it off as soon as possible. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

_The night was quiet, it remained that way ever since Castiel left and Bela returned, yet something discomforted Dean and he couldn’t pinpoint it._

_He stood in his father’s study room, helping Bela clean up all the feathers that surrounded the chair that the old man used for reading and writing. Easily, they could’ve ordered Castiel to do it, but the Shadows didn’t want the new employee where he didn’t belong, and Dean wasn’t anyone to complain, he understood the sentiment._

_They had been cleaning for almost an hour before a loud knock interrupted and disturbed the Shadows that surrounded them, scattering them across the walls in panic. “Bela, would you be a dear and check who it is?”_

_“Yes, of course.” She nodded and left the room, her heels sounding louder with the echoes of the house._

_For a moment, Dean continued with picking up the feathers from the floor, patiently taking one-by-one, wondering how feathers could ever reach the size of his father’s, and placing them inside a bag. But then a weight fell on him, a very large one that warned him of danger and from the way the Shadows reacted hysterically on the walls, he knew his instinct wasn’t messing with him._

_He heard two sets of footsteps approaching the room, the familiar ones of Bela’s heels, and another one that he didn’t recognize but probably went with the threat. Dean managed to keep his expressionless façade, even when an unpleasant pair of gray eyes met his._

_“Hello, Dean.” The man greeted, his leather jacket wet from the humidity outside._

_“Gadreel.”_

_“Been a while, huh?”_

_“Doesn’t matter, what do you want?”_

_“Isn’t it obvious?” He looked around the room, smirking at the trembling shadows that were anxious to hurt him. “Castiel.”_

_Dean bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from unleashing his anger, “What of him?”_

_“I’m just here to remind you that **he** belongs to me, and only me, and unless you want a feud between our people—well, what remains of yours—you’ll let me have him.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is super late, but recently I've been contemplating whether to join the DeanCas Big Bang this year or not and I've got a super neat idea for it. While doing that, I've also been drafting and planning out the story I'm going to use for that as well as the upcoming ones, one in particular that I really liked, sort of a College AU, so the updates delayed. Anyways, hopefully, I'll be getting back on track and the updates will return to their regular schedule! Please read and tell me what you think! Comments are always appreciated. Thank you to everyone that was ppatient, I cannot say this enough!


	9. Eight

**8**

Cas didn’t know what went down Wednesday that on his return Friday, everything he’d cleaned that day, was an even bigger mess than before. 

The tables and chairs were flipped, the curtains scratched, the papers all over the floor, and the flowers vases all broken and spread around different rooms. He wasn’t sure if this happened out of entertainment, or anger. Either way, all the progress he’s made was reversed. 

“What happened?” Castiel asked Bela, who sat cross-legged on a chair, drinking tea and reading a magazine, unbothered by the wreck around her. “Was there a party or something?”

“No, Mister Winchester had a bit of a temper tantrum.”

“A bit?” He questioned, picking up one of the ripped cushions. “What is he? Five?”

She shook her head, “No, twenty-nine.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“An old enemy came over and angered him.” She still wouldn’t look up from her magazine to look at him. He never cared about that type of thing before, but it bothered him now, “A past love of his betrayed him with said rival.”

 _Oh_.

That was a good reason for throw a fit, but still. How could one person cause so much mess? Cas couldn’t even think of where he’d start, every section he turned to was worse than the last. “Do you know who it is?”

Bela’s eyes finally moved to him, “Yes, I do.”

“Do I?”

“You should.”

“Oh.” He knew that asking more would incommode the situation further and was probably crossing a boundary, so he kept his mouth shut. He was curious though, and that type of itch disabled him to progress with his work. 

He wondered what it’d feel like to have a man like Dean love them so deeply that he’d ruin his house out of rage. That woman was extremely lucky and probably so goddamn beautiful if she had him whipped. 

“So like, what exactly did his past love do to upset him so deeply?” Cas couldn’t work properly without the question tugging at him, he had to know who this was and what happened. All because he had a slight interest in his boss. 

“Well,” Bella closed her magazine and set it aside. “This is one man’s word. He could’ve easily said it to throw Dean off, but the situation between him and this lover is very complex. Something concerning their family, I don’t remember much about it, but it had to do with Dean’s grandfather.”

“Is that the man from the painting?” Unlikely, but still possible.

“What painting?” Castiel pointed towards the room the freaked him out on his previous work day, and something clicked in Bela’s mind, “Oh, right! What? No, that’s Dean’s father. I know it must be a little weird since he looks a bit old and Dean tremendously young, but no, that’s not his grandfather. His maternal grandad wasn’t as attractive. In fact, he barely was.”

“And how are you sure that they slept together?”

“I’m not, but even the idea of them spending the night together like he described, was bad enough.” Bela sighed, “You should’ve seen it, Dean’s heartbreak could be seen from his eyes, but his only way of coping is anger.”

“Is that why he dirtied the house again.”

“Rage blinded him that night, he wasn’t thinking about anything except for what his enemy said.” Bela paused, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll help you clean.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll hate it but it gives me something to do.”

Castiel smiled, “Thank you Bela.”

“No problem, sweetheart.”

“By the way, how’d your date go?”

 Disappointment flashed Bela and it gave him the answer, “He was a sexist jackass. He paid more attention to the waitress’s ass than what I had to say so I left and called up a few of my girlfriends to have coffee.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Castiel immediately got an idea, “Look, for helping me, I could take you out some time, or even talk to a few friends of mine to set you up. I’m terrible with dates, dating, and setting up for myself, but I’m pretty good when it comes to my friends.”

“You’d seriously do that?”

“Yes of course.”

Bela gave him an awkward hug, “Thank you.”

It felt good to see Bela smile the way she did, she was beautiful beyond words and Castiel hated to see that the reason she was frowning was over a terrible date that didn’t know how to appreciate her. 

“What about you? Anyone special?” It was only a matter of time before he was asked that, he dreaded the question but it was unavoidable. 

Would Gadreel be special? Could he bring himself to admitting that after his hesitance the other night? No, clearly he couldn’t if he was still doubting it. “I don’t think so…I…I don’t know.” Sure, he and Gad had something special when they were younger, but it wasn’t as alive as it was thirteen years ago.

“No hookups, nothing?” It was weird that Bela was interested in his love life, he thought it was because they were friends, so he answered. “I haven’t hooked up with anyone in, like, a year.” She said before turning her attention to Castiel again, waiting for him to respond. 

“Well,” He started, “There was a guy…”

“Ooh, a _guy_.” She spoke with wonder, leaning in to listen carefully to the upcoming story.

“I was with him, the night I started working. He was my boyfriend when we were younger. I thought it was what I wanted when he showed up to my house that night. He changed a lot since the day we met, back when I was fourteen.”

“How much did he change?”

Castiel chuckled, “Why are you so interested?”

Bela moved closer to whisper, “Tell me, Castiel.” There was a certain charm to Bela’s voice, one he felt he had to follow, afraid of what may happen if he didn’t. 

“He used to be very skinny. Muscular, but still skinny. I was very attracted to him, to his eyes mostly. When I came back here, to North Bend, I forgot about him, even that he existed. If it hadn’t been for my friend Pamela, I probably would’ve never noticed him. I’m grateful that she did…And at that moment, when I saw him, I knew I wanted him. He wasn’t like I remembered. He was taller, stronger. Sexy.” Gadreel’s image flashed into his mind, the moment he took off his shirt mostly.

“He sounds delicious.” Bela teased.

“Oh, he was.”

“Did you sleep with him?” She asked bluntly and unexpectedly.

“Um, Bela, that’s not—”

“ _Did you_?”

The strength and pressure of her words became stronger the longer she stared, it freaked him out, but it pushed him to admit, “No, I unfortunately didn’t. I couldn’t; it didn’t feel right?”

“In what way? This story just keeps getting juicier, I like it!”

“Like betrayal. Something within me didn’t want him as much as he wanted me…I wanted…something…” He stopped and corrected himself, “ _Someone_ else…but I didn’t know who and it bothered me, you know? Because I fucked up the only opportunity I’m probably gonna have to sleep with a man like that. I’ve met many gay men before, and none of them would ever say no to Gadreel.”

Bela paused and her face paled, “I-I see.”

“Are you okay? Do you know him?”

“No, it just…I’ve seen him…and it surprises me that you didn’t sleep with him. It’s like you said, anyone presented with that opportunity would take it.” She laughed nervously and Castiel found it a bit suspicious, but it wouldn’t be the first thing about Bela, it was just that none of them shook him like that. “Any idea of who this other person might be?”

He shook his head, “No, not at all. It’s weird. I thought that there would never be a man or woman to top Gadreel, but apparently there is and I don’t know who they are.”

“You think it’s your soulmate? Maybe of a past life?”

“I doubt it. Mostly because I don’t believe in that type of stuff.”

“What do you believe in?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I just followed my parent’s footsteps with Christianity. That’s why my name is Castiel, after the Angel of Thursday. My siblings are also named after angels, my mother had a soft spot for that mythology. So, if anything, these feelings are probably from something I don’t remember.”

“That’s weird. How could you not remember the person who makes you feel like that?”

Her question added a burden to his train of thought and it gave him a sudden headache. Something in his head was missing, he knew that too well, but he didn’t know what, who, or how much. How could he have forgotten something, or even that someone, like Bela pointed out? It didn’t make sense, because he was confident that a memory was locked away somewhere in his mind palace but…at the same time…there wasn’t anything for him to unlock. 

“You okay?”

He nodded, and didn’t realize that he was holding his hair out of desperation, “Are you okay?” Bela touched his shoulder. 

“Um, yeah, sorry, I just…you know what, never mind.” Castiel forgot that he was supposed to be cleaning, or that he was holding some of the mess, “I’ll get back to cleaning. If you want to help out, you’re more than welcome.”

“Okay, just tell me if I’m doing anything incorrectly.”

“You’ll do fine.” He assured her before going back to trying to figure out the recent clutter he created in his head. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

_Dean couldn’t believe it when Bela told him. He didn’t even know how he believed Gadreel’s word over the truth, he’d been blinded, his wrath took over and covered his common sense. He had never felt an angry as that night._

_But it was all a lie._

_Castiel didn’t sleep with Gadreel, he stopped. May the Gods bless Bela for her wonderful gift that she managed to get the truth out of his beloved…_

_Well…_

_He wasn’t really anything now. Nothing more than a stranger again, but this time he was afraid to approach him or even look at him. He had his shadows do all the work because he couldn’t control his cowardice. Dean couldn’t hurt Castiel, or even start the war between families that the disgusting Kitsune threatened, so he had to hold back._

_“Why don’t you just talk to him, Dean?”_

_“Are you crazy? What if the cycle repeats? What if he falls in love with me harder than the first time?”_

_“So you prefer that his head eats him up in anxiety because he doesn’t think that one third of his memories are missing? Would that make you feel better? Would that enlarge you balls?”_

_“Bela.” Dean hissed, “You’re crossing the line. Back off.”_

_“I’m just saying that you need to talk to him. It’s obvious that Castiel recognizes, or at least hints of you so what’s the worst that could happen?”_

_“Didn’t you hear Gadreel? Would you like for our people to fight, and all because I can’t keep my feelings for Castiel in check?” It hurt him to say it, even worse to continue to think it, but it was the truth._

_“He’s a grown man, I’m sure he’ll understand the consequences better. Plus, you don’t have anyone holding you back. Your grandpa and dad, unfortunately, passed away and Sam just mated a human girl. The choices you make only rely on your will.”_

_Dean turned around to look at her, she was more beautiful under the moonlight, “If something were to happen, if Gadreel were to find out—”_

_“He won’t.”_

_“Why’s that.”_

_She smiled deviously, “Because you’ve got me. C’mon, you and I have pretended to be a couple before, we could do it again. Castiel needs you, I could see it in him, despite everything, you’re that big piece missing in him. If he remembers you, you’ll be able to be happy. Fuck Gadreel and his family, this is about what you, and, primarily, Castiel want.”_

_“Bela…”_

_“Dean…”_

_“You’re a gift.”_

_“So start treating me as such. I basically talked Castiel into telling me the truth, you owe me one. And you’ll repay me by talking to Castiel next time he’s here. Or would you like for Gadreel to mate him? Would you like him to be with a man he clearly doesn’t love?”_

_“No.”_

_“Then go for it. You’re the clan leader now, so act like it. Be the big, strong man I always believed you to be. Don’t be what Samuel made you. Don’t fall as low as your father did and go for what you want. Let Castiel recognize you, let him fall in love with you again, even if it takes time. But **do not** let Gadreel win.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	10. Nine

**9**

Bela invited Castiel to hang out Saturday night. She asked him to dress nicely, didn’t specify where they would go, and Castiel had to spend a tremendous amount of time looking for a suit he had stored away somewhere. 

He picked out a blue dress shirt he had on the end of his closet that he never thought he’d see again. Cas couldn’t think of why he even forgot about, it was a nice sapphire color that made his eyes stand out and made him seem the weight he actually was. Maybe it was the malnutrition that made him look like a walking corpse, but something about this specific shirt made him look and feel different. 

It also made his eyes stand out.

Castiel shaved early that day so that by night, he wouldn’t look homeless, but, like every time before, when he saw himself in the mirror again, his beard was growing. At least his hair was in place, although it almost took an entire bottle to get it the way he wanted. 

Bela didn’t call until five minutes before she got here saying how traffic got in the way of meeting at the time they agreed on and that the reservations to the bar had been a pain in the ass to work through despite knowing someone. 

She knocked on his door, catching him off guard when he decided to pass the razor though his cheeks yet again so that he would look clean by the time she arrived, and Castiel almost ran to open it with a towel on his face so that he’d be able to wipe the mess he created. 

“What have you done?” She asked as soon as he opened the door. Bela reached for his cheek, “You cut your cheek.”

He didn’t know that, “I was shaving.”

“You couldn’t have done that earlier, sugar?” She took the towel from his hand and wiped the rolling blood. “It’s not bad but this could’ve been avoided…There, you’re ready to go.”

“Thank you.” Castiel smiled down at her. “You look great, by the way.” Bela looked beyond great, she looked like a goddess. She wore a strapless, skin-tight, ruby dress with black heels and her hair picked up to show off a silver necklace with a seemingly glowing red gem. 

“I know I do, but I’m glad you confirmed it.” ‘

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

The bar Bela took him to was one that Castiel had never even heard of. It was private and incredibly expensive, typical of this area of Seattle. The security was apparently a close friend of hers and the owner so he got them entrances for free and reserved the best table. Even if Castiel had friendships like hers, they would never be able to get him what this guy did for Bela. 

Once inside, Bela had a lot of men surrounding her with every ten minutes passing. Cas could barely get one girl to look at him the way they looked at her. He wasn’t complaining though, it was nice that she was getting all the attention she deserved, but it was a little annoying trying to approach her without one guy thinking that he was her boyfriend. 

So far, she hadn’t had a problem choosing who she wanted to dance with. It wasn’t any of the guys that had swarmed her like flies to food, but a tall one with glasses that she met at the bar when she picked up her second bottle of luxurious beer. Bela was happy with him, didn’t look uncomfortable like she did with the first guy she danced with. 

When she introduced them, his name was Jon, he was surprised to see how nice and awkward he was, it was very endearing, it made Cas feel great about her finding him. She was smitten by his sweetness and passion for poetry it made him wonder how the hell she found someone like him in a place as wild as this. 

Apparently he was a designated driver to his group of already drunk friends. 

The closest thing Castiel had to that, was a girl named Daphne, who started off really cool when they related over her mismatched Metallica themed purse with her nice green dress as they waited in the bathroom line, but later he found out that she only wanted to give him a blowjob. 

He didn’t deny it—who would in his place?—and she sneaked him into the women’s bathroom so that they could get to it in one of the stalls. She was quick to unbutton his shirt, teased him a little bit with a heated make out session, and worked her way into his pants.

She sucked at it, no pun intended. 

It wasn’t the worst blowjob he’d gotten in his life, but it wasn’t necessarily the best either. It was in the low five. She was very sloppy and worked too much with saliva. Maybe she thought it was hot but it killed the mood the third time she tried to slurp it up from her lips. She couldn’t even swallow and had Castiel finish off in a handful of toilet paper. 

Bela knew what he had done as soon as she saw him step out of the bathroom with his hair messed up again but didn’t tease him about it. Her eyes were too focused on the adorable nerd that kept going on and on about Japanese Mythology. 

He was supposed to have fun with her, keep her mind away from the asshole that mistreated her in her previous date, but she restarted as soon as she found Jon. Cas knew that under this type of situations, he’d be the third wheel. 

But like before, he didn’t mind. This was actually Bela’s night because she initially invited him to move past her failed date. 

Unfortunately, the night’s peace didn’t last long because one of Jon’s friends go into a fight with a stranger and created a mess. Since none of his other colleagues were able to stop him, Jon had to intervene sooner than he had planned and didn’t get to give Bela his number before the group of friends, Jon included, had been kicked out. 

Castiel didn’t get a look of the other guys that had been fighting, but Bela had and she paled. “Are you okay?” He asked when he noticed her expression. 

She didn’t say anything, just asked Castiel if they could go. He agreed because something had clearly discomforted her and he was not going to force her to stay nor ask and expect an answer. 

Fortunately, when they were outside, she spotted the guy she wanted to see but Jon was talking to a pair of security guards and a cop, with an apologetic look on his face reflecting exactly how he felt about his friends’ misconduct. Poor guy. 

“I really hope he doesn’t turn out to be disappointing.” Bela commented, obviously from experience. 

“He won’t be. If he is then, holy shit, that’s good acting.” Jon was handsomely nerdy, a rare combination to find nowadays, but Bela was one of the lucky ones.

“It’s just, with my past lovers and dates, it’s been a thrill ride. They become difficult to be with for anything longer than a month. If Jon and I do move forward, I hope it lasts, he’s nice.” She couldn’t keep her eyes from him, he looked like a scolded puppy at the moment so he could understand why. 

“Were you and Dean ever…” He didn’t understand where Dean came from but he was curious. He couldn’t stop thinking about him since the day they met. His eye color was tattooed into his mind like a never ending memory and it held shades of pine green that he didn’t know existed. He was as enamored by his beauty as Bela was for Jon’s. 

She shook her head, “Not romantically, but we have been involved before. Like friends with benefits, but nothing ever beyond that…” She stopped for a moment to look at her watch, “Would you like to go?”

He nodded and walked with her to the car. The weather had cooled down so Cas lend his jacket to the freezing Bela, even though she denied it at first, saying how she didn’t needed because she was ‘hot blooded’ before asking for it about a minute later. 

It got worse when they spotted a pair of men near their parking space, all skinny and pale with dark bags under their socketed eyes. Bela suddenly held on to him, the same expression she had inside the bar, reappeared but only made her look older and stressed than the first time. Seeing her like that because of them, sent a shiver though Castiel. 

They started towards them, all with a smug smile directed towards Bela. “Hello, birdy.” One with a high pitched voice spoke. Castiel already hated him so he stepped forward. 

“We’re not looking for trouble.” It was the last thing he could’ve said to these men who only wanted that. 

“Oh no, we’re not talking to you, hot shot.” Another man with unnatural yellow eyes said this time. “We’re talking to this beautiful lady over here. You remember us, right Bela?”

It spooked him further when he realized that they knew her. He would’ve never imagined for someone like her to have any association with men like them. “Doesn’t matter, leave her alone.” Castiel raised his voice so that they knew that he was ready to fight in case they chose to make a move. He was a shitty fighter, but he was difficult to knock out and much less to give up. 

“Just leave me alone, Azazel.”

“We made you, don’t ever forget that.”

“You enslaved me!” She contradicted and shook the men with surprise at the power of her tone. Bela was far more than she appeared, Castiel always knew that, but this men underestimated. “I am free now.”

“Don’ tell us you didn’t like it, sweetheart. You were our best before he took you away.”

“Dean saved me, don’t _you_ ever forget that.”

“Yeah, sure, and now you got a new boyfriend with ya.” The yellow eyed one, Azazel, talked louder than before and Castiel was ready to beat the shit out of his nasty face if he took one more step.

“And if I am her boyfriend, so fucking what?” Yeah, Castiel talked like he was ready to rip a new one on this loser, but he was dying inside. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“You don’t know who you’re fucking with, kid, so why don’t you get the hell out of here?” The one with the high pitched voice stepped in and got up close so that he could seem more threatening to Castiel, which worked, but the passiveness in Castiel’s face hid it well. 

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to leave. You are probably used to that, since it’s the only way you know how to win, but I am not like that.” It was hypocritical of him to say, but Bela was his friend and what kind of shitty person would leave their friend with their past abusers?

Azazel and the other guy didn’t take his words too kindly because they threw their punches at him. Cas gave them a fight, throwing kicks and fists everywhere, hoping that they hit either of them. Luckily for him, they did, but it wasn’t enough to get them on the floor like they had to him where the beat him mercilessly, like animals of the wild to their prey. Castiel hadn’t been lucky, his courage didn’t live up to its name and let him become the punching bag of two possible criminals, but it was worth it. He couldn’t have them anywhere near Bela. They kicked him and punched him as Bela jumped on them to get them to stop. His vision was becoming blurry, it was hard to tell how long it’d been going, but he could see when she scratched Azazel across the face and knocked him against the wall. 

That was when another figure appeared. At first, he thought it was another guy showing up to backup for the pathetic Azazel, but as he saw the two men back away, gasping in fear, he knew that a random savior showed up to fulfill his desire of living. 

Cas didn’t know who this person was and couldn’t identify them because he was slowly blacking out due to one of them kicking his head. The person beat them brutally, Cas could hear it from their grunts and the way blood splattered on his cheek. 

“Oh my god, Cas, are you okay?” Bela kneeled next to him, and touched his face, the gesture sending thick waves of pain through his body.

“I’m not.” He could barely pronounce his words. 

Another pair of strange hands touched him, softer and more carefully than Bela had. Their touch was familiar, but didn’t know from where. “You’re gonna be okay, Castiel.” A warm voice assured him and that kind of smoothness only belonged to someone. _Dean_. 

But how did their boss find them? They were nowhere near North Bend. How could he have known about them? Had Bela called?

“D-Dean.” Castiel reached for him, didn’t know why, but was shocked when his boss leaned in to his touch. 

“You’re going to be okay, Cas. I’ll take you home.”

He didn’t like feeling like the damsel in distress, but was happy when Dean treated him as such and put his arms around him to carry him in his arms effortlessly, like a hero did to their love interest after a rescue. Which was exactly what that was. Except they weren’t lovers. It’d be nice if they were but that was just a personal thought. Dean had someone special apparently. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know if this is late. We recently moved houses and my anxienty over the move plus other things have made me lose track of time. Please tell me how this chapter was! Thank you to everyone who's kept up with this story this is highly appreciated.


	11. Ten

**10**

_Dean was careful when he carried Castiel into Bela’s car. He slowly dozed off as they walked into the black auto parked a block away from where the chaos occurred. Bela helped by opening the door for him, and even with starting the engine as he cautiously placed Cas on the back seat._

_“How did they find you?” Dean started, looking over his shoulders to see if they were being followed, the Shadows said he wasn’t._

_“I don’t know.”_

_“Did they get to him first?”_

_“No, Cas tried to defend me and they beat him for it. He got a good hit on them, though, so it’s not like he was completely helpless.” Bela crossed her arms, rubbing the leather jacket that was too big for her to gain some warmth._

_“Is that yours?”_

_“It’s Castiel’s.”_

_He chuckled, “He’s quite the gentleman, huh?”_

_“What, he didn’t treat you nicely when you were younger?” She teased but only got a disapproving frown out of the green eyed man._

_Dean started to roll up his sleeves. Not that Castiel was badly beaten to a point of barely recognizing him, but it was still very obvious. There were many ways to patch him up, some that would take days to heal, but he knew a very quick solution. Although it was a little violent. He took a small knife that he usually carried with him in case he ran out of backup defense, and used it to create a small wound on his hand._

_He then proceeded to go into the car, carefully setting himself on top of Cas, admiring him for a moment (God, he was beautiful), and allowing a few drops of his blood to fall into his parted mouth. It’d be a slow process, but nothing extending a maximum of two hours._

_“And what are you gonna tell him when he wakes up and doesn’t have a scratch?”_

_Dean got out of the back seat and cleaned the wound with the small towel that Bela held out for him, “That’s why I only gave him a few drops. He’ll keep a few of the injuries, probably the least severe ones, like some of the cuts on his face.”_

_“That’s good to know. Now, could you tell me how you found us?”_

_He smirked, “You forget I have eyes and ears everywhere, honey.” His smile faded when he saw that Bela wasn’t catching on, “You remember, that one guy…” Dean snapped his fingers as he tried to remember the name of his acquaintance because this guy wasn’t his friend, he was more of his dad’s. “Uh, Rufus? Yes, Rufus! Well, he’s a friend of mine and warned me about Alastair and Azazel being here. I tried to come down here as fast as I could, apparently I wasn’t fast enough because look at what happened.”_

_“Don’t beat yourself over it. You still made it. Things would’ve gone to shit for both of us if you hadn’t showed up at all. You did us some good, despite the situation.”_

_“I could’ve still prevented it.”_

_“You could’ve, yes, but you didn’t. And if you didn’t, it’s because destiny wanted for Cas to see you as his savior. Yes, him getting beat up is terrible, but think about it. This is your chance to reconnect with him, as shitty as that sounds, to make him see you with the same eyes as when you were boys.”_

_“You think saving him is the answer? Of course he’s going to see me differently. I want to do this on my own, okay?” He knew he sounded frustrated, but he hated it when situations clogged him up._

_“You know what I mean, Dean. Plus, you need this because, so far, you haven’t done shit to get him to notice you again. You’ve been leaving me all of that to me, and I’m pretty sure that is not how it works.”_

_“Fine, I’ll do it, if it means getting you off my ass about it. But I will do it my way, not yours, even if my way sucks, I will get Cas to like me again.”_

_“You better. I am honestly tired of you whining about wanting to get close to him and not doing anything about it. I want to see you happy, Dean. Since I’ve met you, I have never seen you with the same light you have around him, so go for it. If it didn’t work out between us, at least make it work with him.”_

_“Thank you, Bels.”_

_“No problem, sweetheart.” She smiled at him sweetly before dangling her keys, “By the way, I’m driving. I need you back there with him in case he wakes up.”_

_Dean was nervous about doing it, he knew that despite what they agreed on, Bela would continue to help him because she knew him too well and that it didn’t matter how much of a clan leader he was, he would never be able to make a move on his own._  

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

Cas woke up with a headache. As if someone used a hammer to hit him on the head and knock him out. He expected it to be worse when he started to move, trying to figure out where he was, but felt nothing. 

Then he remembered. Dean saved him, told him everything would be okay. He beat up those malicious men and carried him to the car, like a superhero from those big-company movies that he kind of enjoyed. 

“I’m glad you’re awake.” The voice he desperately wanted to hear said to him and he took a seat on a chair next to the couch. He carried a bowl full of water and a white towel with him. Oh no, was he supposed to heal him?

“I thought I’d feel worse. They hit me everywhere.”

“That so? Then you must have a very strong healing system if you only got a scratch out of that.” Dean smiled at him and it turned Castiel into a messy pile of goo. He was weaker than he thought. “But don’t worry about it, nothing some cleaning up can’t do.”

Dean dipped the small towel into the bowl and pulled it out to clean up the drying blood from his eyebrow. The touch stung a little, but nothing his poker face couldn’t hide. Perhaps he was lost in those curious green eyes that examined his injury, or those plush, pink lips that he licked over to prevent from drying. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Dean asked without taking his eyes or hand from his wounded eyebrow.

Somewhere deep in his mind, there was a hint of recognition that ignited when they first met. But Castiel couldn’t decipher from where it came from, or why it even started but he’d become intrigued in this situation since this kind of disconformities began. “Do I know you from somewhere?” He found himself asking without meaning to.

Dean hesitated, thinking about it for a moment, “I don’t think so.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded, “Seriously.”

But he didn’t believe him, something inside him told him not to. Not because he looked scheming at times, because he didn’t, he was a figure of the gods, but because it wasn’t right. “How come I don’t believe you?”

Dean shrugged, “Happens all the time. I don’t blame you.” He slowly, backed away, “There, you’re all better. Bela went out to buy some bandages for it but at least it’ll be clean by the time she gets here.”

Cas stretched for Dean’s wrist to stop him from going away. He didn’t want for him to lock himself in his room and leave it to another misfortune to see him again. “Can I ask how you found us? I’m grateful that you did, it’s just…it’s seems a bit weird.” 

He sighed, “Bela asked me as well. And if you must know, I was visiting a friend.”

Castiel raised an eyebrow at the freckled man, “Yeah? In a place known for its crazy amount of bars, drugs, and booze?”

“My friend owns one of the night clubs there. He asked me to visit him.” He stopped, “I don’t see why I should be giving you a life story. You should simply be glad that I saved your life.” 

Okay, now he was being rude, “I am glad. A lot actually. But the thing you did, how you just showed up out of nowhere only happens in shitty young adult novels and creepy romance movies. Not in real life. It seems a little odd that you happened to pass by when those men were attacking us.”

“Trust me, the real world is a lot worse than you think.”

“What would you know, you barely get out of here.” Woops, he didn’t intend of letting that out, but his mouth moved before he had time to register. “I’m sorry, I’ve just grown in a world where none of this could ever happen to people like me.”

Dean moved closer to him, “There’s a lot more to you than you think. It may be hard to believe now, but it will all make sense one day.”

Cas squinted. There it was, that recognition hitting him again. It was his words, always so wonderful, but this time it was different. He heard them somewhere before from his younger years, but as he searched through his memories, that part of his brain was blank.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…what you said…are you sure you and I don’t know each other from somewhere? Something about you is driving me crazy because my head is telling me it knows you, but it doesn’t even know from where or if it’s real.”

Dean’s smile turned into a grin, “Perhaps I look like an actor—”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“What I’m saying is that maybe I look like someone you saw in your life before, a passerby maybe, because, believe me, I would certainly remember a face like yours if we’d met somewhere else.” His hand reached for Castiel’s face to caress it, running his long fingers under his chin. “But, like you said, what would I know, I barely get out of here.” He backed away, making it seem like his gesture never happened.

When his lips recited his words, Cas felt ashamed for saying them. Clearly, Dean didn’t mean any harm and yet, he chose to be an ass to him because, what better thing he could do than bite the hand that fed him. Well, not fed him, but gave him a job. Same thing, but it didn’t sound right in his head. “If I offended you, I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

“You helped me and I wasn’t kind to you.” Castiel grasped for Dean’s hands, which surprised him, not just because he didn’t back away but for how warm they were, it was quite relaxing, “I want to make it up to you. I would feel like shit if I didn’t.”

“Seriously, you don’t have to, it’s alright.” Dean assured him, but his eyes were thoughtful, “Although, if you still want to, then accept to have dinner with me.” His silence spoke many words of sudden surprise, probably the reason of why he added, “As friends, of course. Bela barely stays the night anymore, so it’s a little lonely in here after she leaves.”

“I thought she spent the night.”

“Not after things got complicated in her family…Of course, you don’t have to accept, I don’t expect you to, your hesitation tells me everything; it was just suggestion.” Dean dismissed it as if it wasn’t a big deal, but he had this vibe around him that expected Castiel to day yes. The same feeling that didn’t recognize him, was the one that pushed him to not disappoint his ridiculously handsome boss. 

“Fine, I’ll have dinner with you. Just give me a time and place and I’ll be there. But this better just be a friendly date like you’ve said, you better not try anything.” Even if he wanted him to, “Not that you will, but just in case. This is my way of thanking you for saving me.”

“Meet me here next Saturday at seven and I’ll take you some place nice.” 

“Again, this is a friendly meeting. A simple thank-you reward.”

“Don’t be late.”

“I won’t be.” He extended his hand to seal their agreement, and hoped that Dean would take it, “It’s a deal then. Saturday at seven.”

Dean took Cas' hand with an agreeing smile and shook it, “Saturday at seven, Cas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a little difficult to think of what I would do for the chapter, mostly with how it would progress, but I'm glad of what I did in the end. Anyways, please tell me what you think!


	12. Eleven

**11**

As soon as Castiel walked into the diner, he had Gadreel all over him, towering him and reflecting the obvious height difference between them. For a moment he didn’t know why this was happening, until he realized that days had passed by since their almost sex session, and Cas had not called or talked to him. 

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked immediately. 

“Um,” He pretended to seem lost, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled, “That night we spent together, did I say or do anything wrong that you’re avoiding me?”

“Am I? I didn’t know I was doing that. My apologies if I made it seem that way.” He actually forgot about it; he’d become too busy thinking about how he and Dean were supposed to go on a friendly date that weekend amongst other things. Mostly about useless topics like what he would wear, what he’d say, or if he wanted anything to happen after it. He’d do anything to have Dean fuck him to insanity, turning him into the low-key cock slut he wanted to be just for him. 

Damn it. 

How could he think of such thing?

“You’re clearly avoiding me, Cas.”

“Again, if I made it seem that way, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to, my head’s just been all over the place.” He tried to move past him, but Gadreel’s large structure didn’t allow him to and it made him slightly frustrated. Cas was hungry and Gadreel kept him from it. 

“If I did anything wrong, please tell me.”

Cas smiled, “Okay. You’re not letting me eat. I’m starving and you’re standing in the way of me and that table over there.” He pointed to a booth next to the window, empty and just calling his name to take it. “If you could let me get to it and order, then we can have a proper conversation where my head is focused on one thing again.”

He stepped aside and Castiel moved past him to walk to his desired destination, “I’m sorry, I’m just a little worried about you and I wanted to make sure I didn’t do or say anything wrong the last time we met.”

“You didn’t. I’ve just been busy with my job and other things. None of it having to do with you. So, you’re okay, I’m not angry, just distracted. Is that okay?” It kind of bothered him that Gadreel followed him, having his hot firefighter friends sitting on the other side of the restaurant. Why couldn’t he be with them? Not that he minded, but he needed some time to think. 

“What do you even work as?”

“I thought I told you.”

“You didn’t.”

He occupied one of cushioned seats, letting out a relieved sigh because he was afraid that he’d lose it. “I’m a house cleaner at the Winchester mansion.”

Gadreel tensed, “Oh. Isn’t that place super shitty?”

“Actually, no. The owner’s quite nice.” And very handsome, but he wasn’t going to admit it to the guy he used to date, “Everyone seems to open their mouth to say something negative, but they don’t know that the people living there are pretty relaxed.”

“And you know them better than I do?”

Castiel raised an eyebrow at the sudden hostility Gadreel reflected, “I never said that. And if they are, what does it matter to you? You’re acting as if I couldn’t defend myself.” 

“I know you can. I just care about you, Cas. You were my childhood love and I get a little protective.” He looked down like a shamed little boy. He appreciated that he cared, but there was no need to treat him like a pansy.

“Thank you, Gad, really, but if there’s a problem, I can handle it on my own. There’s no need for you to intervene, okay?”

“Okay.” Gadreel mumbled, but Cas could tell that he didn’t fully agree, “Just be careful around them. They’re…the owner, Dean, comes from a terrible family and…I don’t want him do anything bad to you. I worry about you a lot and if he lays a hand on you, I will wreak havoc to make him pay for it.”

Cas chuckled, “Really, there’s no need, I’ll be fine. I know how to handle people like him, it’s really no issue. And how do you know him? I thought he didn’t talk to anyone in town…” He didn’t take the time to look over the menu so it surprised him a bit when one of the new waitresses came over to their table for their orders.

“What can I get you fellas?” She asked with a notepad and pen ready on her hand.

Gadreel went first, “I’ll just have a cup of coffee.”

She was clearly impressed by the man sitting with Castiel because she bit her lip in desire. Castiel couldn’t blame her. Gadreel was truly a man to die for. If she stared longer, he thought the peculiar blonde would drool all over their table. 

He cleared his throat to get her attention, “I’ll have a chicken burger, no onions, with a side of curly fries and a coke, please.” 

The woman, her name was Sara, judging from her nametag, didn’t even look at him as she wrote it down like she had with Gadreel. Too bad he wasn’t paying attention to her since he was busy on his phone. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

“If she stared any longer, her heart would burst out.” Castiel joked but only got a momentarily glance from the other man. “Why are you mad? Is it still over the Winchester mansion?” He took his silence as a yes. “Seriously, Gad, what does it matter to you? You keep hinting that they’re evil, but you sound so bitter about it and treat me as if I couldn’t handle this myself?”

Gadreel looked up from his phone, “I know you can handle it. You’re very strong and I’ll never doubt that. But you’re also naïve. You made that mistake when we were younger, and now you’re doing it again. Doesn’t matter how many—”

Castiel raised his hand to stop him, “What are you talking about? What did I do when I was younger?” When Cas was kid, he did a lot of stupid things, but he couldn’t remember any of them relating to the Winchester home. His parents talked about it, usually about the rumors surrounding it, but Cas never had anything to do with it. Although, the sudden mention Gadreel made, sparked something in his brain that died quickly. 

He looked defeated, but he couldn’t understand why, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Clearly it does if you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s really nothing.” His gray eyes tried to distract themselves from anything that wasn’t Castiel’s intense, blue orbs. “When you were younger, you used to talk with Dean Winchester. Despite your father’s wishes, you did it anyway and went up to his home one day, where you had a chance encounter. I was there.”

Cas scoffed. How come all of this sounded so new? He would remember Dean if he saw him, a beauty like that couldn’t go unnoticed, but he didn’t. “Wait, so I know Dean from my teen years but I don’t remember him? You’re not just making this up to mess with me?” It was too convenient to be true. 

“Why would I ever do that?”

“Because just like you know me, I know you. And even though you’re incredibly hot, you can be a bit of a liar.” It was one of the many reasons they were a constant on-and-off relationship. Gadreel was a great guy, but he also had a nasty side that Cas witnessed at times. And yet it never stopped him from going back to him like a hungry dog. Yes, Cas was one of those…

“I’m not lying. I would never do that to you.”

“You had no problem doing it when we were younger.”

“I was stupid, didn’t know how to appreciate what I had in front of me until I let him go.” He reached for his hand, but Cas moved it away before he could. There was too much uneasy tension to just let him play that card. 

“That’s not where I was trying to get. I want to know why you remember things that I don’t. Obviously you were present, but where the hell was if I can’t recall shit from meeting Dean?”

“I don’t know, Cas, honestly.” He thought about it, but Cas could tell that he wasn’t thinking hard enough, “Were you ever involved in a car crash, maybe it affected some of your memories?”

It was a good proposition, but not enough, “Memories are only affected in sets, not individually. That’s some supernatural bullshit. It doesn’t happen in real life, much less to people like me.” 

“Don’t say that. There’s much more to you than you think.” Gadreel leaned in to say. Of course, he thought about Dean saying that to him, it somehow sounded more believable on him.

“Dean said the same thing to me, you know.” 

Gadreel blinked, “He did?”

“Yeah, but didn’t explain as to why.”

The man in front of him seemed to know too, but didn’t elaborate. What was up with people in North Bend hiding things? They looked at him with expectation to know the town’s history, but refused to help him with the task? It didn’t make sense at all. 

“Can’t you tell me?” He asked Gadreel. He knew of many ways to get him to intricate, but wasn’t sure if his ways would still cut the chase now that he rejected him a first time. 

“The thing about destiny is that it’s a one-person project. It’s impossible to get two people involved, without having each of their destinies parallel each other. They’ll never collide because each destiny is unique, never the same. This is your journey, Cas, not mine.” He smiled, but Castiel stuck to his increasing frown, watching as Gadreel slowly stood up, dropping a few bills on the center of the table.   

That wasn’t the answer he wanted. 

**-.-.-.-.-.-**

_The shadows were particularly disturbed that night, with Dean finding it almost impossible to control them and get them to leave him alone. They usually stayed in other rooms or hallways, sometimes roamed the first floor in the hopes of seeing Castiel again, but that day, they stuck to his chamber._

_Dean wished he knew why, but he had a feeling. He could sense it in the air, by the way it thickened with every passing minute. The Kitsune were near, creeping around his territory like the predators they were._

_Something must’ve occurred that they were doing that. Which was weird, because he barely got out of his house to even bother picking on them. Unless…_

_Had Cas started to remember? It was the only reason of why they’d act so paranoid._

_He only needed some sort of confirmation—_

_Dean could hear the front door slamming, a deep voice demanding to see him. Usually, he’d have Bela answer for him since he wasn’t very good at confrontation, but she was out on a date with a guy below her league, so he settled on walking downstairs to open the door._

_The shadows told him not to, to go back upstairs, their whispers becoming louder with every step he took, but there was no going back, he had to come face to face with the man yelling outside._

_Expectedly, it was Gadreel, his eyes glowing red in anger as they met with his calm, green ones. “Nice to see you, too.” He looked tired, worn out, and hurt probably from holding in a transformation, and Dean couldn’t help himself from feeling a little pity._

_In a way, he knew what it felt because he had done the same at some point in his life. Last time he did, it was because his father told him that Castiel belonged to a Kitsune boy._

_“I told you to stay away from him. I warned you and you ignored me.”_

_“It’s not my fault I respect him more than you do. I see him as a person, not a sexual object.” He would have invited Gadreel inside, but the fox was too enraged to think outside of his own head._

_“I love him.”_

_“So do I.”_

_Gadreel ran his hands through his hair desperately, “He is rightfully mine, you know that. He belongs to me; we’re meant to be.”_

_“Is that why he found more safety around me? Who he wants to be with is his decision.” It was easy for him to say, but had the roles reversed, and he probably would’ve been more distressed than Gadreel._

_“Stay away from him. I can’t lose him again, not to you. Castiel is mine. He has been for years now and if I have to force him…” He gulped, reaching a decision, “I’ll force him to be mine if you don’t stay away. Learn your place, Winchester. It’s for the best.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry if this is super late but the school year is finally over and I've got all this time to dedicate to my fanfics. Please check out my new one of Alpha!Dean and Omega!Cas, Run Me Like a River. Please tell me what you think, idk I wasn't satisfied with the outcome but you might!


	13. Twelve

**12**

Walking into the Winchester mansion felt different for Castiel. He didn’t admit it to himself at first, but it was totally because he’d have dinner with Dean the following day. 

It was weird to think about it that way, but it was. He would meet up his boss for a ‘friendly dinner’. Not that it was a bad thing, just…odd. Dean was his employer, his incredibly attractive and unbelievably desirable employer, and there was nothing friendly he wanted out of him. 

Cas really wanted to sleep with Dean. He thought about it so often that the was sure it was starting to become visible. His self-conscious wanted it that way, but his brain didn’t, not if he wanted to keep that nice, stable job. 

He grew to like the place, despite the town’s rumors about it, because he enjoyed the quiet, but creepy, surroundings, the good pay, and having Bela as his companion. She was the joy of his life when she was around, always so bright and accepting of him. Cas felt like he needed that when all the other people turned their backs on him for leaving. 

Who could blame them though? These were the same people that saw him and his mother grow. His mother, Daphne Novak was born here, all of her family was, including himself. Castiel was the only child, actually, to be born and partially raised in North Bend, so he could understand the grudge they felt, but with the time he already had there, he thought they’d be able to move on.

That day he was tasked with something different. When he showed up, Bela was not there. She called earlier to inform that she promised her possible boyfriend a day together, so all of her to duties went to Castiel. 

It’d be the first time he would take the tea to Dean’s room and actually see the second floor and his boss’ room. He was a little excited, he had to admit, but scared to as to what may come out of it. 

But first his cleaning. 

It wasn’t much. He was used to doing a lot more because it felt as if Dean and Bela had some sort of party every night he didn’t come and left a disaster in the downstairs rooms for him to fix only so that they could repeat their process the following day. It was a painful, never ending cycle. 

Cas did what he had to. He picked up the broken pieces of flower pots (he had no idea nor interest as to how that happened since he was now used to it), dusted the tables, cleaned the curtains, washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen, and prepared himself a meal with the fresh groceries Bela bought just for him.

As he sat down to enjoy his chicken soup on the freshly clean table, he realized that time passed because he wasn’t so caught up in what could happen between him and his very attractive boss. Could it be because he would be going into his bedroom? Who knows what could happen in there? He was hopeful but optimistic.  

When he finished, he cleaned his bowl and set out the pots for the tea. Somewhere, Bela had a schedule for the teas Dean drank on certain days of the week. It was peculiar about the way this man was very specific for what he drank every day. 

He found the list, ironically, in the same place as the tea, which, really, was the last place he thought about looking through. That day’s tea was cinnamon. He prepared it carefully, thinking about Bela’s explanation about how Dean liked it. 

Cas poured the tea into a black cup and organized a portion of sugar cookies on a small plate next to it. Bela mentioned something about Dean not liking his tea without his cookies to accompany it.

God, what a strange, breathtaking man. 

He picked up the silver tray, cautiously handling it in his sweaty hands because he was finally gonna go up those magical stairs that looked like they were straight out of the Beauty and the Beast. In a way, he was Belle and Dean the Beast…?

With every step, he felt as if he was about to walk into a new world, straight through a portal and into a different dimension. Cas was nervous about what could happen up there, with him and Dean being alone, stuck in one room together because Bela explained that he was to keep him company until she came back. 

A lot could happen in that time…

It was up to them to decide as to what.

The second floor wasn’t much different from the first. It was darker, sure, and the curtains were thicker and blocked out the sunlight completely, but besides that, it was technically the same thing. Nothing special, really. 

The hallways were long, barely luminous, Cas could barely see if there was even another wall on either side. It was hard to tell.

Bela said that Dean’s bedroom was the last one to his right, and as soon as he reached the largest door, Cas held the plate tightly so that he could use one hand to fix his hair and check his breath. It smelled like tomato sauce, but, thankfully, it was hardly noticeable, but he still mentally scolded himself for not carrying breath mints with him. 

Castiel proceeded to twisting the door handle carefully, recalling Bela’s warning about not making so much noise for Dean. If he was lucky, he would be asleep and Cas had the freedom of going home early. If he wasn’t, then he had to stick around for a while with Dean, citing that the man hated to be alone. 

The first scent that caught his nose was the one of pines, very strong and potent, distracting him from the pile of large feathers he stepped on once he made his way into the room. He looked down to them, thinking for a while about how they got there, or how come there was always so many around the house, but then he remembered his duties and how he needed to complete them unless he wanted to come face-to-face with a disappointed Bela. 

Dean’s room was very big. It felt like it was all of the first floor of Cas’ house joined together to form this one. It had several divisions, all made for different things that Cas was a little surprised that his boss didn’t have a kitchen on sight. 

He also had a large bed. Too large, actually, that it could fit a good set of people in there and still have space to spare. In the middle of it, was the most beautiful being Castiel had ever laid his eyes upon.

Dean was sleeping and partially naked, Cas wasn’t sure since he couldn’t see him completely thanks to the covers, his exposed structure could compare to the night sky, since it was showered with freckles and his skin was almost golden under the glow of the of the fading day. Castiel wanted to touch him, but he held back, because as creepy as it seemed, he couldn’t do it just yet. 

Cas was cautious when he accommodated the plate on the empty nightstand. Bela’s instructions said that if Dean was sleeping, he should go and not bother him. Dean would understand, but Castiel _wanted_ to be there. He wanted to admire his boss more because he was desperate to get to know him, and his mind was begging him to stay put. 

There was no way in hell a man like Dean was real. Gadreel was believable because, as handsome and muscular as he was, he was somewhat flawed with his personality, but not Dean. At least not yet. To him, Dean Winchester was fucking perfect. 

Nothing could ever compare and Castiel wanted everything with him. He’d test his limitations for even a simple kiss as long as it was from Dean. Extreme? Very. But something in his head and heart felt so right as he thought about. 

Ever since he met Dean, his thoughts were going crazy over him because, somehow, they recognized Dean from somewhere. Since Gadreel’s confirmation about it, he felt at peace with himself because one part of the puzzle was solved, but there was still a very large part remaining. 

His hands moved for themselves suddenly. They were heading for Dean’s soft cheek, and Castiel chose not to stop it. He truly wanted this. He wanted to know what that freckled flesh would feel like, physically and emotionally. 

Unfortunately, he never came to contact. Something stopped him. Dean woke up, his hand gripping Castiel’s wrist tightly like a handcuff, and his eyes were staring wide eyed at a very embarrassed Castiel. “What are you doing? Where’s Bela?” 

“She went out.”

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Castiel felt small and Dean’s grip of his wrist kept getting worse, “She said you were okay with it.”

“That’s not her decision to make.” He let go of him and ran his hand through his bed-head. Shit, Cas could feel his pants getting tighter.

“Um, I made your tea.”

Dean’s hands were already holding the mug, “Yeah, I assumed so.”

“Are you angry?”

“Not at all. This was all just unexpected and I don’t like surprises. I’m not used to having anyone else in here except for Bela and she should’ve told me you were going to fill in for her.” He took a small sip and groaned, “Hmm, this is great!”

But Cas wasn’t interested in the compliment, “You’ve never been with anyone else here? Not even, like, _special_ friends.”

“I’ve had special friends, but there’s no need to bring them here when there’s a lot of cheap motels. By the way, were you planning to wake me up? You were a little too close to me for someone who was only supposed to bring my tea.” He took one of the cookies from the plate and ate it in one bite. Cas watched as the crumbs and sugar fell from his lips and on his body. 

“Sorry.”

“Is there any particular reason as to why?”

“Hey, I didn’t complain when you got all up on me that night you brought me home after the bar.”

Dean chuckled, “I was helping you heal.”

“By caressing my face?”

“You were going to do the same with me. Why are you getting angry for, anyways? I was the one that asked first. The least I deserve is an answer.” He swallowed another cookie and drank more of his tea. 

Cas took a seat on a nearby, throne-like chair, and took a deep breath. “Do you know how handsome you are? I couldn’t help myself, you really can’t blame me.” He smiled shyly, hoping that perhaps, that could help his situation with the taint of innocence he was trying to use. 

“Yes, I am aware how handsome I am. But did you really have to try to touch me while I was asleep?”

“I’m sorry.” His eyes moved down. Suddenly his shoes were interesting…But then something really interesting caught his attention, “If you don’t mind me asking. What’s up with all the feathers? Every time I clean, I see them all over the place. I understand if you have some type of bird,” He said as he picked up one of the many feathers surrounding the chair, “but you don’t, and even if you did, what kind of bird is this big?” It was midnight blue fading into black, with a width of two inches, and height of around seven or eight. It varied. 

“It’s nothing.”

“You can’t use that one me and expect me to buy it. I mean, like where do they come from because there’s a lot lying around everywhere. Is this like an ongoing joke? Like, do you have someone drop them off here or…”

“They’re mine.”

“Oh,” Cas mumbled, incredibly confused, “Where do they come from if they’re yours?”

“It’s difficult to explain. Sorry if I’m not of much help. That’s not really something I can answer easily.” Although his eyes said a different story. He did know, he just didn’t want to say. “Do you still want to go out with me this weekend. You’d make a guy really happy if you still want to.”

Was that even a question? Of course Cas still wanted! He didn’t spend the past few days fantasizing about the endless possibilities for nothing. “Yeah, of course, but only if…” He stood from his chair and kneeled next to the bed, picking up the napkin from the tray and inching it closer to Dean’s mouth, deciding to play the hard to get card. Dean’s green eyes devoured him like a lion did to a defenseless gazelle, “you promise to tell me about the feathers.” He patted the napkin along the outline of Dean’s plump, and very tempting lips, cleaning him of the mess of the sugar cookies. 

“Only if you promise me a kiss.”

Cas smiled, “Keep your side of the agreement, and I’ll comply to mine. Amongst other things.”

“Don’t give me so much power, Cas, I tend to take advantage of it.”

“I don’t mind.” 

“Good.” Dean grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY IF THIS IS LATE. I HAVE BEEN TOO CAUGHT UP WITH MY ABO THAT I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS GEMSTONE, BUT HERE'S THE NEW CHAPTER AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT. A LOT OF GOOD SHIT IS COMING UP PLOT WISE.


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